Doctor Who 11.5 "The Tsuranga Conundrum" Review

                                             
The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) ends up on a junk plant rummaging through the trash. When she chances upon a sonic bomb which explodes, yeah cos it was far easier to just watch it for so long before it exploded.  When they awake they find themselves in a white room and the Doctor is being administered to by Astos (Brett Goldstein) who got a mere ten minutes or so of screen time, especially after bonding with the Doc so early on.  It's as though they just Astos(sed) him right out! But she doesn't listen to what Astos tells her and instead ends up running around (as always) until she finally realizes there's vibration and she's on a ship.  She's got a spleen injury which comes and goes and wants to talk with the pilot.  Until Atos explains about the ship and she notices unusual activity and some blob that's moving out in space and comes on board.  Checking out the entrance port she goes starboard but he wants to go instead.  The pod she finds is gone and  Astos gets into the other one.  Calling it a rookie mistake as he ends up locked inside and the pod released.  Exploding into space.  Before he does he sends Mabli (Lois Chimimba) a message saying she's in charge now and she's good at her job and he believes in her.

The Doctor and the others meeting another patient, Yoss Inkl (Jack Shalloo) who is a pregnant male and his species are able to give birth to babies.  As he later tells Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Ryan (Tosin Cole) men give birth to boys and women to girls.  He's apprehensive about becoming a father but later Graham (Bradley Walsh) and Ryan talk him through it when assisting in the birth and Ryan tells him he'll be a good father.  He doesn't have to be perfect just be there.  As Ryan earlier told Yaz about his father and he hasn't seen him in a year and the same old story of not being there when he needed him.  Perhaps a good line in this was when Mabli tells him he can't feel anything cos the male sac is designed not to let him do so!  Clearly as an aside to men not being able to take the pain of childbirth!

They also meet the General Eve Cicero (Suzanne Packer) who is there with her android assistant, Ronan (David Shields) and her brother, Durkas (Ben Bailey Smith) who don't get on with each other.  As the Doctor meets her and tells her there's a volume written about her and not just a chapter in The Book of Celebrants.  (Will we find out what this is?  Was it in the library with River Song?)  Exploring the rest of the ship, Mabli tells her that Rhesus 1 will detect them for the Pting as they find info on what this species is.  A creature feeding off energy which the Doctor finally gets and that's what happened to the pod.  It didn't blow it up, it just used up the energy.  A Pting being akin to a gremlin eating everything in sight.  It will go for the antimatter coil fuelling the ship and so Yaz and Ronan are sent there to guard it using stasers if it comes into contact with them to knock it out.
                                              
The ship sends out three signals stating it's free of the Pting otherwise Rhesus 1 will blow it up by means of self destruction.  Of course the Doctor is without her TARDIS (again) and the Pting devoured the energy from the Sonic but she realizes it has a self reboot mechanism.  She gets the idea to remove the bomb and place it in a chamber enticing the Pting towards it as it eats up the energy, then she jettisons the Pting into space.  Graham and Ryan help deliver the baby and Yoss decides to name him Avocado Pear, not Graham Ryan cos it'll be a laughing stock! He decides to keep the baby and Ryan still refuses to fist bump Graham.  Also they comment on how his Nan would be laughing at them right now.

A pretty routine ep this time round with the Doctor emphasizing hope and how it's always around, it's what people wish for and hope for like peace.  Eve and Durkas Cicero making amends before she dies and he flies the ship to safety.  As she suffered from pilot heart, using her neurons to navigate the ships she's flown, she does the same with this one and was using adrenalin blockers to protect her heart and not wanting it to get out that she suffers from this condition.   This ep would've been much better if it was more scarier instead we get one focusing on hope and once again how working as a team helps them through their troubles.

Ghost Adventures 17.5 Halloween Special: "The Haunted Museum Live" Review

                                       
Ghost Adventures Hallowe'en Special Live from the Haunted Museum was the buzzword on everyone's lips for weeks.  The other one being Dybbuk Box - as Zak said he would open it, of course there were no guarantees he would have done that.  Though there were some amazing captures of EVPs, disembodied voices and SLS footage too, as well as thermal shots.  With the majority of the world left on tenterhooks until they could see a recorded version of the show, as the Facebook feed was limited to four cameras and endless droning music!!  Though there were technical difficulties and people reporting what was happening to them, as well as strange pet behaviour too.  My Facebook feed went off a couple of times too and was met with this:

To be honest I wasn't really going to review this episode, not for any particular reason, mainly time, but having watched it, there was so much to comment on and mention.  The most obvious being the coveted (right word?) Dybbuk Box opening and come on there can't be anyone out there who doesn't know the history and stories behind this now.  So I was a little shocked the Rabbi who contacted them Rabby Shea Harlig, was not aware about it or had heard of it.  Though being a Rabbi he should have had some knowledge of it.
Zak's interview later after the show: The Rabbi said he got a call from a friend and wasn't sure what he had to do.  Zak questioning him on his word of "script".  Now he said he believes in the Box and taking possession with another person.  He wasn't 'familiar' with that Dybbuk Box.  There wasn't a script and he never met Zak.  Zak was upset with his crew as they didn't tell him what he was meant to do here.  The Rabbi studies Jewish mysticism.

Perhaps it was just me but when the Rabbi said "script" I assumed he meant script as in religious script, scripture; you know being of different religions!  I didn't even refer or allude to the fact he was talking about the show being "scripted."  Come on you have that word imprinted too much on your brain! Not everyone automatically jumps to 'script' being associated with having lines to say and with this being fake!

(From my Zak book back in 2015.)

However, I said the same thing Zak told the crew a few seconds before he did, in that how he could have come there knowing nothing about it, then claim he could put the demon back in the Box if it was released and then changing his mind.  I know Chris Fleming said he could have been affected by something to make him say that, or have been afraid, but it's common sense in many ways, why say one thing and then claim the opposite.  Especially if it's something a part of Hebrew myth and a part of your own religion.  Anyway that aside, whilst Zak was in convo with said Rabbi, the guys were having some heated voices coming through on the spirit box.  Heated as in serious, with voices saying on the spirit box, "don't open it" several times over and the one arrogant one saying "open it!"

With Aaron having doubts and wouldn't come into the room at first since he was being overcome emotionally and was decidedly against opening it.  The thought entering my mind what if he just went ahead and pulled the doors open!  Especially if his feelings took him over.  Since at first he also wouldn't even touch Zak's hand when he asked him to, yet later on did a U-turn and entered the room, but also touched the box on a few occasions.  The camera did move twice as I saw it when I managed to stick around and watch it on Facebook.
I heard some laughing when Zak was by the box too.  So much for Zak telling Aaron he's not touching this, he later touches it a few times, as said.

Aaron also wanted to remove the salt around the box, what would have been the point of that if it wasn't going to be opened, losing some of its protection like that.  Then Billy getting 'religion' puck  whilst Zak was conversing with the Rabbi.  A little off putting in that he did say he wasn't familiar with the Box, but also religion coming through could have been a dig at the Rabbi claiming this.  "Abort" also comes through not to open the box.  Why was the production crew messing with Billy's packback? Zak mentions Deadly Possessions show about the Box ep and how that Rabbi told them about the Box.Finally they gave up on opening it and I knew they wouldn't in the end, but it was a good thing that they didn't as who knows what would've been unleashed.  With Lady Snake around and her dabbling without telling anyone who or what she conjured, could considerably have made matters much worse.
Lady Snake didn't want to say anything and then she mentions "she" being attached to Zak.  Chris dreamed about an old woman in period costume, then she replies they're picking up on the owner of the museum house, Letty.

As for the Demon House segment, I really need to stop watching this, got headaches everytime I watched it and pain in my right eye and now this time round had stomach ache when watching it here.  Chris was at the Demon House when Zak was filming the doco but it didn't make the final cut.  When Chris went back there last year he saw a black mass appear and vanish into the ground.  Portal to the museum or some from of link here?

Spirit box session in Demon House room with Chris:
Chris: "how many entities are attached to this?"
Answer: "6."
Zak's name comes through as clear as day!
Chris: "rape twice, music, hearse, street kids...God is dead..."
Zak: "how many entities are attached to the stairs?"
I heard 3 then 12.
Zak: "what are you gonna do to me?"
I hear "kill you" in a male voice...NB: Not at the same part when Zak asks "how do you feed?"

That session was really powerful.  A shame the spirit box was used though as it has quite a lot of interference coming through on it.

Then the session with Peggy and Tour Guides Staysha and Shealee where she says Staysha's name about twice and Billy caught that massive orb on the thermal camera too.  There were some orbs around on the camera on Facebook.  Peggy is removed from the case by Zak for the first time since the museum opened a year ago.

The orb Billy captures on the full spectrum.
Though what's the point of a spirit box session if you're not going to repeat that word!! As Staysha doesn't want to say it and neither does Shealee! Yeah just have a two-way conversation instead!  Sounds like "horny."?? Ha ha really funny!  Sorry but if you're conducting an investigation, or taking part in one, you say what you heard or don't bother saying anything!

The ep began with the guys in the Oddities Room and Zak talking of a 'new' doll there named Lily.  He bought from Portland. Apparently Lily was German and made of real human hair.  The girl whom she belonged to suffered an awful amount of abuse.  Here's where Billy caught a small figure on the SLS coming from the case and they felt bouts of cold air circulating around them.  See here (taken from Zak's Twitter - yeah dude I still see your tweets! Ha.)

Billy got a message "Hair - actually - won't."  As Zak touched the doll for the first time.

Some great EVP captures too, as well as Zak hearing the "yes" disembodied voice as he was taking Dakota to the Art Gallery which houses Bela Lugosi's mirror.  When he asks "is somebody down there?"  The "Yes" can be heard clearly!! without any enhancements.
As Zak saw a face there.  That face seemed to be there before he caught it, I don't know if anyone noticed but I said that to sis and no I hadn't read any tweets beforehand.  I was going to read some, but changed my mind as you can see from my tweets (not that anyone's interested! ha.)
Here as he's taking the pic: I just noticed there seems to be a face underneath at the bottom of the mirror too, it actually looks like an open mouth.  God my eyes gone blurry!

And this is a face I see before he even thinks of taking a photo

Then this is what he captures below, does this not look like Zak's face distorted?

In the basement the voice sounds like "hear me,or  heed me??" I didn't hear the child's voice when Zak replays the recorder.  Though Lady Snake was there being evil and arrogant about conjuring some entities who were having fun upstairs and kept saying they're in a candy shop!  Patti Negri came in and they met each other gain, but I didn't find the basement part interesting.  Nothing to do with Patti, just Lady Snake.

Nerve centre with Dave Schrader captures an orb that comes through the door and trails away but is a large orb.

A shame the Ouija board session didn't last very long, it was more interesting than that conjuring she was up to in the basement and I would've wanted to see more on that.  Though that 'Zozo' (there typed again!) name did come through.  As well as 'MAG.'  (Don't vote for MAGAts - sorry if only they had gotten another 'A' there!) At least Jay did close the session.  I'd much rather have watched this than a lot of the other things that went on there.  On the board they got the letters:
R
MAD
VC MAG

Anyway will watch again so can add everything else seen and heard!

Zak and his earpiece though was a bit loud wasn't it, could hear all the voices coming through, like at the end, go to ad break, cut now, end it"  Agh!!  "We've gotta go out, wrap it up Zak, we gotta go to break!"

Paranormal Lockdown UK 1.10 "Hinchingbrooke House" Review

Hinchingbrooke House has an interesting history, which once again spans over a number of centuries from being a nunnery, priory and before that, it was home to the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, yes that Earl who invented the sandwich.  He had a mistress, Martha, who lived in the house with him and he was devastated when she was murdered outside the steps of Covant Garden Opera house, after she was shot in her head by a jealous suitor.  She is rumoured to haunt the reception room where she stayed.  Mark the historian, told of how a worker stayed the night and woke to find a monk leaning by his bedside and he ran away.  As well as workers reporting of tools being moved from the Reception room when working on the house.

Mark also recounted his own story of how he was a pupil here when the building was a school and at 17 he heard footsteps upstairs as he was going up to retrieve his books, that made him run.  As well as a man from the RAF who saw a beautiful woman in white haunting the grounds back in 1959.  But the sightings have predominately been of monks and of nuns as well.  There was a story of how one of the nuns was pregnant by a man and the prioress had them both murdered.  As Mark showed them skeletons that were found and placed in glass by the library.  But they don't know who they belong to.

The investigation began when Nick and Katrina heard footsteps on the stairs or coming from upstairs and they were very loud indeed, the loudest they have gotten in an investigation.   Same footsteps as Mark heard giving validation to what happened to him forty years ago and is still happening now.  With Katrina feeling a pain at the side of her head, which my sis said was cos of Martha and how she was shot through the head.  Nick slept on the stairs the first night as Katrina slept in the library, but they didn't get any activity through the night.

Next day they investigated and Katrina found some stairs leading to the basement.  Here they found a stream running under the house and thus could have had an effect on the energy at the house with the presence of water and especially moving water.  They set up lasers and also used the Poltercom - sorry I didn't like this device at all, it wasn't as good or as clear as the Geoport and I wonder why that wasn't used as Nick did place it by the bed during the night.  I think it would've given far better responses than the Poltercom, which unfortunately was used throughout this investigation.  Heck even the Echovox was better than this!   It seems crazy none of the old equipment was used, such as the SLS or thermal camera or the 3D mapping cam. They also used the Rem antenna sensor, which was just giving off noise when questions were asked.  Even a digital recorder would 've been handy for an EVP session.  I didn't like the use of equipment, all the type of equipment used during most of these UK investigations as it seemed 'primitive' in a way.  Yeah that's my opinion!

In the library, Katrina asked if "something violent happened to you?" as she still suffered from  the pain at the side of her head and a voice came though I heard saying" you're here to actually help me?"  As well as hearing more footsteps or something similar.
The library was the original priory and here through the Poltercom they got voices coming through of "dark man", "Black Monk;" which at one point they thought was alluding to the Black Monk House at 30 East Drive, their Hallowe'en Special investigation a few years back, but concluded it had nothing to do with it.  Katrina asked if the "Back Monk is here?" and the voice replied, "yes."  Also Nick walked around the library and he asked to be stopped.  With a voice coming through saying "stop now."  Which I don't think they heard as they made no reference to it.  "Monk and monks" came through quite a lot; as did "I'm here" on two occasions, especially in the Reception room but also whenever they used the Poltercom.   Later in the library, Katrina noticed The Woman in White, the book by Wilkie Collins on the bookshelf which she was amazed by.  Me I was surprised they hadn't heard of this book before as it's quite a famous novel and has been adapted a number of times as a film or for TV.

When Nick slept in the basement he was woken by a sound of footsteps as though someone was walking around and he followed it but he wasn't able to catch anything on camera.  As they heard "bad man" in the basement during the day and Nick getting goosebumps.  But no idea what all this was in reference to, like who was the "bad man, the dark man."  Nick set up two lasers in the basement and a voice came though saying "right behind you."  As I heard it when he was asking questions  in the basement.  Also Nick apparently gets a lot of activity in basements!

They set up a final big experiment using the light panels on the stairs, the Poltercom, the Rem antenna sensor and the plasma light panel, which would light up if there was any activity, it was kinda like a lightning bolt when Nick showed it using his hand in front of it.   The digital camera was also set to take photos at two second intervals.  Nick asks if it's on the stairs and a reply comes saying "I am."  As well as "who are you, get out."  I heard "help" coming through twice.   Nick sees a shadow on the light panel and "monks" is heard twice more.  He then asks what time period they're in and "11" can be heard.  Referring to the eleventh century.

They come down the stairs and then footsteps are heard upstairs with "monk" being said again and "come up here" again is what I heard.  Nick asks if he's the body under the stairs and gets the response" yes."  As well as "me." I.e that it's his body.  He asks if he's mad someone disrupted their grave?" and the reply is "yes."  Also asking if a man is buried here, he gets the response "monk."
The experiment on the stairs did show something walked there as the plasma panel lit the stairway and the lasers were broken.  That was the extent of the activity that was received.

Many liked this ep I just thought a lot of the eps throughout the series weren't as good or interesting as the US Paranormal Lockdown eps have been and just seemed to be routine investigations, just confirming what was already known about the locations they investigated.  There are plenty more interesting places and where more activity is reported than these ones and also their choice of equipment felt a lot was left to be desired.  I know people have their own viewpoints and opinions and I'm not taking anything away from the investigations they carried out here, but it doesn't mean that every single one brought out something different.

Note: knew I'd seen the house before as numerous productions have filmed here including the following:
For the BBC Marrying Mum and Dad
Extreme Make Overs
BBC Paranormal
BBC 2 Imagine Series with Alan Yentob
Bryan’s Upstairs Downstairs
ITV Anglia Imago Productions
A Portrait of Omai
Cromwell – Warts and All

Fred’s House: Ghost Time Music video

Doctor Who 11.4 "Arachnids In the UK" Review

                                           
Or perhaps arachnids in the Y(UK)!  Always a creepy spider ep in everything and this was no exception, so after feeling itchy and scratchy, time to review!  This was more likely the show's Hallowe'en episode.  But the size of those things, they were humongous weren't they!  No time for hiding behind sofas this ep, never know what might crawl out from behind there, sorry folks, you need another hidey place!

As they return home, Team TARDIS as they ended up calling themselves at the end, everyone seems out of place and don't really know what to do with themselves.  With Yaz (Mandip Gill) inviting everyone for tea at her flat without asking her dad (Ravan J Ganatra).  Graham (Bradley Walsh) decided he wanted to go home and be alone to gather his thoughts with Grace (Sharon D Clarke). He pictured her there but the house was deserted and he sat there sniffing her clothes!  Well, deserted except for that creepy crawley in the loft.  And again YUK!  The same with Yaz's neighbour two doors down; as a woman tried to see if she was okay.  Yaz's mother, Najia (Shobna Gulati) calls her to pick her up from work as she's just been fired from her job at a fancy hotel.  Cue Chris Noth as a fancy pants hotel mogul (ringing bells ha) but this one was a rival to that other Orange thing  (Aka No 45) and even he said not to mention that name!  Also running for President in 2010.  SO he had a lot to lose if anything got out over the real reason he was worried, or rather what was under his chain of hotels.  As well as Graham's resounding " God help us" when they find out what he's really like.
                                        
As the Doctor (Jodi Whittaker) opens the door for  Jade (Tanya Fear) to check on her friend, they're inundated with spider webs, massively thick ones and on top of that they find her in her bed covered with them, like in a cocoon.  The Doctor tells them they need to worry more about finding where the spider is and Ryan (Tosin Cole) finds it under the bed.  As it crawls out she tells them to put the door between them as she hunts for something to keep it at bay, leaving Ryan to guard the door.  She finds vinegar to repel it, but more as a line it doesn't cross.  She wants to help it but knows Jade is letting on more than she knows.

Jade takes them back to her lab after Graham comes running back to tell them what he's found.  They were working on finding tough webs of spiders and she has a map showing where the outbreaks have occurred.  The Doctor strings the map to find a gap, leading to the hotel.  Yaz arrives to pick up Najia who is fired yet again and he wants to know who Yaz is cos she looks more like she's fifteen.  He shows her the rooms where all the webs are and she says it wasn't like this, as he leaves for his "scheduled bathroom break".  And as I said, 'what's in the bath.'  Oh you know, spiders and their rep for always lurking there.  As he washes his hands, the bath cracks to reveal a gigantic spider and Kevin enters, as he throws him into the bathroom and leaves to be attacked and carried away into the bath.  The others show up and the Doctor checks the plughole where she sees the giant spider.  She suggests they move to somewhere bright and Najia takes them to the kitchen.  Of course whilst all this is going on, Graham and Ryan are impressed with him, that guy.  (Yeh the guy who gets around in all those shows!  Ha.)  He's Jack Robertson, hotel mogul and soon to be running for Pres, as already said.

The Doctor thinks Najia could be the link between them as Najia asks who the Doctor is and whether she's seeing her, then later will ask if she's seeing Ryan.  A bit like her sister (Bhavnisha Parmar) did in the beginning.  Whereas her dad was left at home with his horrible, by now cold, pakoras!! As well as referring to the rubbish that comes up through the sink into their flat.  Calling it a conspiracy.  As the Doctor finds the tunnel with the cocoons of Jack's niece's wife, Frankie and Kevin.  This leads her to a landfill which Jack's company has been using to fill his land with and to build his hotels over.  Thus "re-purposing" land.  Only the company's been dumping all sorts of illegal waste there too and Jade says this include waste from their lab so would include spider carcasses, so they may not all be dead.  As Graham and Ryan are sent to trap a spider, it's not the biggest one, which they find in the ballroom, as Graham asks if Ryan checked the ceiling.  Ryan also telling Graham he read his father's letter saying he was sorry he wasn't there for him and he wants to see him again as they're "proper" family.  Whatever that means as Ryan says his father's not "proper family" either.

The Doctor comes up with the notion to trap them all into one place so they can die a humane death.  Deciding on Jack's panic room, which in the scheme of things and seeing the re-purpose it was for, took a long time to actually open.  He has food and weapons there to last him six months.  Ryan tells him the Doctor won't be happy about the guns. But true to form Jack mentions how everyone should have a gun and do as they do and just use them for everything and on everyone.  A sarcastic if not poignant line, as that's exactly what is happening in the US right now.  The Doctor says the spiders are attracted to vibrations and Ryan gets the idea to play rap on the speaker system which attracts them to the panic room, where I suppose they were left to die, cos they didn't actually show a proper ending to that.  Except she finds the mother spider and Jade tells her it's dying since it's increased in size and can't get enough oxygen...  But Jack comes in and shoots it with Kevin's gun he retrieved from the tunnel.  So I'm echoing Jack's line:
"Why don't you do what normal people do – get a gun, shoot things like a civilized person?"

Graham returns home but finds he doesn't want to stay there it's too lonely for him and filled with Grace's memories and so does Ryan.  Yaz leaves to get bread for the family after which her mother says she can tell her about the Doctor, but she's not coming back either.  Graham knocks on the TARDIS door and he says there's too many memories there for him to get over and it's better to be away.  The Doctor can't promise them they'll be safe but takes them on a trip as they all start the TARDIS together.

A more back to normal ep this one with plenty of running around, some serious soul searching and of course Jack getting away unscathed possibly to fulfill his fate as President.  Even though he confesses to being an arachnophobe nothing happens to him and he doesn't get done in for the landfill fiasco either.  Even Yaz doesn't mention she's a police officer to him when he made the fifteen remark.  Only her dad mentions it early on.  But Chris is good in whatever role he plays going back to one of his earliest in Law and Order and he clearly was having fun with this role and appearance.  Maybe they should encounter him again in a future ep set in 2010!  Don't know about you, think Jade would've made an excellent companion too, very level headed and intelligent too!  Makes a change ha!  But seriously she was good.     

Supernatural 14.2 "Gods and Monsters" Commentary

                                           
Supernatural I hate to admit it, season 14 has really hit a low point for me.  Particularly this episode. For what used to be a great show, shining scripts and comedic in every sense of the word, emotional and tear jerking, has all gone (in some eps).  Evaporated like a last drop of blood from a vampire's fang!  In my opinion, it rally needs to get back to doing what it did best, the stand alone eps: fighting evil: the family business!  This angels, angel lore stuff has got to end!  They've had their fill of it season after season and really the stories don't get any better with it.  So Lucifer was Sam (Jared Padalecki) and vice versa, now Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Michael: they quickly need to move on from this now.  Restore some sort of order in heaven and move on.  Let's stop repeating the endless" God's on a permanent vacation: gone fishing..." etc.  It's too old to be constantly dragged out!

The dynamic needs desperately to return and having the bothers apart is really not something on the cards for the longterm, it's been tried and tested before but doesn't work and especially now in season 14 when we've come so far and vested much in the show.  What was the entire purpose of Michael going round asking what they want and then killing them off.  Why go after Jo (Danneel Ackles) what did he get from that (and couldn't they come up with a name other than another Jo again?)

If the season opener was bad, ep 2 didn't improve at all!  Jack (Alex Calvert) finally seeing his grandparents, wanting to tell them who he really was and then throwing a bombshell for Cas (Misha Collins) by saying they need to kill Dean or put him in the cage or whatever and not even bother trying to get Michael out of him, was all all time low.  In the sense that he was meant to be more sympathetic to his plight, be a different person than being the Devil's spawn!  Almost a reversal of what Dean said about Jack last season and how they should've just dealt with him.  Particularly in the opening eps.  That shocked Cas since he thought he'd had an impact on him about how t, well, be human, but seemed it failed.  And more so since he doesn't have his powers which Jack saw as a be all and end all to helping.  He looks like fast becoming his father's son.  Though I'll hold judgement on that for now, but it would add some spice to the show if he lost himself a little int he scheme of things.

As for Nick (Mark Pellegreno) and no longer being meatsuit for Lucifer, he still seems to have remnants of him too and for a second there when he reacted to Cas in the way Lucifer would, it did appear Lucifer hasn't gone.  Yet those final moments when he killed the man who murdered his wife and son just confirmed there's more to Nick than we know.  Let's hope he and Jack don't get together cos the havoc they could reek is unthinkable - then again, let's do go there.

Same question with Dean and Michael: is Michael out of his body and gone.  Again it all appears too simple and too easily 'resolved' to be actuality and a conclusion.  Not after that mirror scene and how he enjoyed slapping Dean when he told him to get out!  Dean in a tux it was Red Sky At Morning all over again!  Should we heed the warning?
                                            

 As for the vampire, didn't they think she was in danger.  They got the info they wanted from her and didn't make her leave town then and there.  That was really callous and a turn around for Sam, recalling how dead set he was against killing anything, any creature that didn't do any harm to others.  Such as Lenore and even me harp-y-ing back to Madison too in season 2's Heart.

Oh and Sam really needs to ditch the beard!

Though episode 3 was a marked improvement on last week's ep, I was still pondering how such a weapon would really have made Michael shake in his boots (Dean's skin) and exit him in such a hurry.  Though of course he's undoing everything that Sam and Dean as hunters have done and re-writing the rule book when it comes to weapons that can kill their prey.  Though I would really like an insight into Dad's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) journal right about now!  I know they don't really use it anymore or refer to it, except when they showed it to Mary (Samantha Smith) a while back, but it'd make a terrific homage to Dad and to bring him up right about now.  They need some Winchester inspiration and clout and maybe somewhere in that journal, there might be some little entry as to what they're actually dealing with in the greater scheme of things! This would in some ways, go back a little into bringing up the old myths and legends and a harkback to earlier seasons.  This is what I think the show needs a little of right about now.  Cos admittedly I've just about had my fill of angels right here and now.  Demons are all good and fine in their place and are the baddies of the show, but the angels have run their course I believe!

Agree or not, it's time Supernatural returned to its roots and explored other aspects of legends and what lurks out there instead of getting too spiritual and preachy in tone still.  As I tweeted, shove Michael into Nick and send him back to the cage, cos Nick's still reeling from Lucifer's fallout and again is he really out of him.  The same question we ponder about Dean.  That just made it seem so easy, too easy for my liking.

Also Jack now getting sick, will this mean he'll need some sort of transplant/transfusion and thus having to confront his grandparents, as his only living relatives, about who he really is.  Or is it something more sinister embedded in his genealogy?

What Duran Duran Means to Me Over the Years...

                                                   
Re-invention and keeping it fresh and in tune with an ever-changing society and world that's what Duran Duran did over the centuries. This in response to longevity.  Looking back and re-listening to some amazing songs and tunes and lyrics. Still pondering the meaning of many songs and lyrics and alluding to what they could be about in my mind and my opinion.  Some of it funny, some silly, some poignant and reminiscing of the great decades from the '80's-'90's in particular.  How the talking point at college (not uni - proper FE college) with friends and obsessives.  No I won't go into the guy who fancied himself as a Simon LeBon lookalike, who became a friend, but yeah looking back he did.  Ssh I've said that so many times now everywhere that I've lost count!  The memories endure and being Princess Diana's fave band too!
                                                 
All that and a James Bond movie title song!  This band surely had A View To A Kill!

I felt Cinderella Ride was an homage, of sorts,  to the late princess Diana and again that'll probably be more my opinion.  It's a haunting fairytale bringing up visions of doing good and trying to bring out the best of humanity, whilst trying to escape more personal painful phantoms.

I love(d) Rio and everyone used to laugh at that when at college and I had to defend it and myself for being crazy wild [boys] over it! (Sorry it's punny!] What was wrong with it, catchy tune and lyrics penned especially by Simon in a bar on the back of  a napkin when watching the waitress! It's a great visual personification of what he saw and imagined! "...cherry ice cream smile..." who cannot get inspired by that!  Though some have said it refers actually to that waitress's movements, I'd always go for the choice of the river itself - again personified.  But could the river be a metaphor for the woman! My friends used to much prefer Hungry Like The Wolf, all good and fine in its own way but these days, wonder what the fuss and arguments were all about anyway! All were amazing sounds.

Obviously the most obvious one would be The Reflex and reading fans online with their ideas on the meaning of the words was strange to even surreal in some cases.  To me it was always about actions and reactions.  You know how for every action there is an equal opposite reaction.  But laughed so much over people saying it was about sexual urges!! Needless to say it was probably a 'get up and do' kinda song rather than sit there and be passive!  Though the band did admit the boozy moments didn't help in deciphering the meaning behind it.

                                                      
Hey Sunset Garage again more sublime lyrics and who'd have known the lines:
"with your big eye punk
fashion fingernails..." could have such a subconscious impact on my profile pic on Twitter.  Ha.  Seriously I should quote that on my nails pic portfolio!

Perhaps a funny one in my own mind would be The Chauffeur.  As I felt it was more about the car, rather the Spirit of Ecstasy statue/figurine on the iconic Rolls Royce car, especially with the lines: you know with added personification...
"The front of your dress, all shadowy lined
And the droning engine throbs in time
With your beating heart...
Sing blue silver..."

With the 'Spirits' arms behind her and her dress blowing backwards in the wind resembling wings!  And more so if you know the history behind the very first statue commissioned for the car, designed by the sculptor Charles Robinson Sykes and the model, Eleanor Valasco Thornton who posed for it!  All fascinating stuff.  Google it sometime!  I know the lyrics were a poem written by Simon in 1978, two years before he auditioned for the band, but I always imagined the inspiration behind it could be this.  Such a fanciful notion I know, but that's how their songs inspire and conjure the imagination.  Even if it is mostly always romantic notions I seem to conjure and think up!  Isn't that one particularly special part of music and how there's so much meaning behind songs, whereas on the other hand, some are simply there to be enjoyed without adding what we think they mean!  Works both ways and where would we be without such aspiring artists and songs.  A very Ordinary World that would be.

Then again Ordinary World - the song is so far removed from being ordinary!  Again it's about so much more than first meets the ears!  A homage of sorts to what was happening in the world at large once again!  Such connotations in songs can also lead to discussion over what people are not free to think, write or talk about!  Me getting too philosophical for some I guess.

Then there was New Moon On Monday - no not about werewolves (but ya never know!) This one to me seemed more politico in context.  A new changing world order with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Same with in some sense with Paper Gods from the iconic Paper Gods album.  It's so relevant to today's world and society, striving for materialism and getting 'cut' along the way with so many putdowns and rejections that we must endure!  That the world truly is a "basket case" right now.  Who'd have known it would have such a prophetic impact with such a socially serious vibe...

"Bow to the paper Gods in a world that is paper thin
The fools in town are ruling now
Bleeding from paper cuts, money for head shots
Fools leading (today)
Who needs it?"

Again if you really think about it there's an underlying political/socio message, even if unintentional.  Especially of how "the total human race became a basket case..."
Then again there are many who need it in order to make ends meet anyway they can.  Guess those that don't need it are those with power, wealth and fame!

The other song that has had a vast impact on me is/was Do You Believe In Shame?  I know it's about the loss of one of Simon's friends, but the words can apply to losing anyone under any circumstances and for me that was my late father.  So much meaning and emotion in so many of the lyrics:
"And it may seem selfish now but I'll hold on to
The memory until all this fear is washed away."
"Cos I believe that a little part of you inside of me will never die.."  Words that echo and resonate forever!

And that backdrop of the Twin Towers makes it even more poignant in my opinion!

Do I confess (okay I just did) when I was younger, very young I wrote some notes *true story) and threw them out of my bedroom window as in the video of this song and funny thing my window was at the front of the house thus more chance they'd be picked up, whether or not they were read or blown to oblivion somewhere...

Other songs were more in the vein of influences for the boys, like Skin Trade and Simon's first few lines of that song give me an Elvis vibe, Simon sounds like him so very much to me..
"Working on the weekend baby
She's working all through the night..."  Yeah my brain working overtime!  ha.

The David Bowie connection even before their tribute to him with singing Star Man, What Happens Tomorrow; You Kill Me With Silence has Bowie connotations specially the chorus, a little.  There are even some songs where Simon does sound like David Bowie, such as The Crystal Ship for starters, or Lady Xanax a little.  Starting to Remember. I don't think he really has to try to sing like him, or be made up to look like him cos he's such a marvel in his singing and masterful voice that he just manages it.  They were and are both iconic performers in their own right! No mimicking or copying necessary or required!
The other one is Somebody Else Not Me.  If we had proms when I was at school, this for sure would have been one song I'd have played back then, or even at school reunions, which we don't have here (thankfully, I might add!)
By the way I actually do like most of the songs on the Pop Trash album

So when asked to name 10 Duran songs off the top of my head, that was easy, could've named more
Rio
Come Undone
What Happens Tomorrow
Ordinary World
Sunset Garage 
The Seventh Stranger
What Are The Chances
All You Need Is Now
You Kill Me With Silence
Paper Gods

                                                
I do like my joke though about if Duran had a Neighbours tribute band based on the Aussie soap Neighbours, it'd be called Durian Durian!  Sure Karl (Alan Fletcher) would fruit that and his obsession with growing the durian fruit in the show last year!  At least some found that funny.

Loved they have a range of perfume out too, recently launched at Liberty of London, with such exotic names as Hungry Like the Wolf, Come Undone, Skin Divers and You Kill Me With Silence; all song titles of course and the tagline of "I smell like I sound."

Thus I thought (had been on a mind for a while) it would be cool if they came out with their own range of make-up products especially nail polish colours and particularly with the song lyrics in most songs, whether directly or indirectly referring or alluding to fashion, or maybe just maybe only in my mind! As long as there are various shades of purple in there I'm all in!!
Including:
Sunset Garage:  "...pink eyed punk fashion fingernails..."

All You Need Is Now: "...decline and fine
like a diamond in the mine..."
"bat your lashes let it shine..."

Only In Dreams: "she keeps a guard up while her nails are wet..."  [Also cool vampire song!]

Meet El Presidente has it in fashionable bucktfuls!!
"...but don't take
Off your high heel shoes...
Dress in flimsy clothing
Use your lipstick line
To cover fear and loathing
With a pink disguise..."

You Kill Me With Silence: "that's your style girl..."

Butterfly Girl: "set free your butterfly girl..."

Cinderella Ride: "the queen of helpless things..."

Paper Gods: "the next thing you must have, find peace with matching bag..."

The Chauffeur:"...blue silver..." {There's a nail varnish colour right there!}

Rio: "...cherry ice cream smile..."  And more...

#FlashbackFriday to #BeforeTheRain will always be an all time classic in the vein of The Windmills of Your Mind or Autumn Leaves with @SimonJCLeBON's haunting voice. So brilliant it could've been used as a theme for a movie! Still should be!

SO as the title states: what Duran Duran means to me over the years: constancy, a friend that's always around no matter what.  Yet aspiring anew, life altering and at the same time remaining the same.  Influential, artistic, innovative.  Thought provoking talking points.  Gracing magazine covers and interviews the world over.  Ever evolving to fit the moods of yesterday, today and the future too.  Sad lyrics, serious lyrics all reflecting an emotion, a memory.  Funny, poignant, silly.  But through it all these guys never changing in personality or character.  Fun loving, humourous. The same amazing guys as when they first started out, that's what I meant by being constant.  Each song, especially my faves, evokes a particular chapter in my life turning pages everyday to find something amiss or of a new found wonderment.  The "bleeding from paper cuts" is apparent in my life from way back in my early years and teens and even now: all in an awesome way!

No other band around in the history of music and nor will there be, at least for me!  Yeah definitely "bow to the Paper Gods..." with those lyrics down pat on paper who wouldn't bow to Duran Duran's majesty?!

PS: hey we need more meet 'n' greets for your London fans soon!

Paranormal Lockdown UK 1.9 "Kenton Theatre" Review

One of England's most haunted theatres, the Kenton Theatre at Henley-on-Thames which has been around for a long time which boasts the ghost of  Mary Blandy who poisoned her father with arsenic in 1751. However she maintained the mixture was a love potion sent to her by her married lover, Captain William Henry Cranstoun.  The play The Hanging Tree based one her life was performed here and after this, the cast have seen the ghost of Mary, described as a woman in grey.  There are also other paranormal hauntings associated with the theatre and just not limited exclusively to Mary.  Katrina was enthusiastic about investigating here as she was a Theatre Major in college and has investigated other theatres too.  Agree in that theatres do have a history of hauntings and especially by many of the actors who used to work at the theatre.  (Mary's ghost is also said to haunt Oxford Castle.)

Voices coming through of crying, "William" - could that have been Mary's lover William? And Nick also caught "Murderer".  They caught the voices saying "they did" when they ask if that was Mary they heard.  Nick saw a shadow figure but they couldn't capture anything on camera which was nothing new and a shame.  As well as Rob seeing something too near the balcony area but again it wasn't caught on camera.  Don't think Katrina got anything on the digital camera since she didn't just point and shoot when the shadow figure was spotted and I don't know if she actually took any stills when she wasn't being filmed on camera as they didn't mention this again.

There's an orb that flies into Nick from the right of the screen into his left side, could it have been Mary?  (See below.)

Nick slept on the stage as he was drawn to the energy there and got a cool EVP on the digital recorder he left on all night with "get up Nick." I thought it sounded a little more "get out" as in: the stage and theatre doesn't belong to him.  Will re-watch this again anyway as always.  Katrina slept on the balcony but didn't have anything happen except getting a cosy night's sleep (as always ha!)
Next night she slept in the orchestra pit where one of the theatre workers caught a ghostly face on his mobile which they said could have been Mary.  Didn't look very female to me.  Nick slept on the catwalk where he didn't get anything either but he did manage to fix his hair for a first this series, more so since he was rather tired.

Other voices that came through on the Geoport included: "she did" in response to whether they heard something or not.  As Nick climbed to the catwalk he heard the trap door closing behind him and a voice saying"close it."  As well as asking "who's she?" when he climbed up, probably in reference to Katrina.  Katrina commenting Nick couldn't do the 'mirror exercise' when she was getting him to try some acting techniques on the stage!  Well he's no actor, otherwise can you imagine all the more flak he'd get for what he does, like he needs anymore!

Using an alarm on the curtain they actually caught it moving and as I tweeted that it looked like something was walking past there which was what Elizabeth, the historian, also told them at the end when they showed her the evidence.  She also informed them of how people have said Mary shows herself by taking on the form of an orb and then manifests into a kind of blob (to use Katrina's word) but doesn't get to form a full figure.  This was endorsed by the 'blob' they caught on the camera as a black mass trying to manifest which I said looks like a woman's figure attempting to take shape and form.  My reference to see below from above pic, as the orb caught by Nick on stage.

As soon as it tries to manifest, it vanishes!  Cool watching it unfold on screen.
As well as "sick", "disease", need money" all coming through as well on the Geoport.  Mary came through a few times and the name "Sarah;" showing this wasn't always a place associated with Mary.  Elizabeth later telling them the place was also used to hand out social benefits to people including money.  Sure I heard other voices such as "upstairs" when asked who they were talking too and if it was Mary.

This ep reminded me a lot of the season 2 Ghosts of Shepherdstown season 2.4 episode I'm Your Greatest Fan where they managed to catch some great evidence there too.  See my review here.
https://mila255.blogspot.com/2017/08/ghosts-of-shepherdstown-24-im-youre.html

Since theatres also have a fascinating history of performances in general and also of hauntings associated with them.  Elizabeth spoke of how Mary was probably trying to tell her story but the people who saw her were too afraid to hear it.  Her cropping up at the theatre especially after the performance of the play about her, was perhaps a chance for her to be heard.  Interesting to hear of what other results Elizabeth comes up with in her research in the future.  The story of Mary is interesting and a must read for anyone interested in such history.  Especially as the men seem to get away with quite a lot and Mary being hanged for patricide.  Would she really have killed her father intentionally particularly since she didn't have that sort of a character from all accounts and was considered very intelligent and articulate.