L'appel du vide.

“Freakin’ friends, freakin’ friends ‘til...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:12:15 +0100

“Freakin’ friends, freakin’ friends
‘til we come to bad ends we’re freakin’ friends” - Mystik Spiral

Diarrhea cha-cha-cha.

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:21:19 +0100

Diarrhea cha-cha-cha.

A small tip for any purveyors of cheap alcohol. If you filter a...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:02:30 +0100

A small tip for any purveyors of cheap alcohol.

If you filter a cheap bottle of Vodka through a Brita the impurities are stripped away removing that back-of-the-throat burn and untoward calescence that leads to most folk shunning the spirit in their teenage years. Expect a smooth sip of your freshly cleansed Russian fire-water to be indistinguishable from Grey Goose or other “premier” Vodka’s.

More old comics from my collection.

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 20:46:16 +0100

More old comics from my collection.

I just discovered that when you check your TV in Harvest Moon:...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:21:00 +0100

I just discovered that when you check your TV in Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town at 4:44am there is only crackling static instead of the usual cheerful Test Card. Your game locks up (forcing a reset) and the time 4:44 scrolls across.

It is especially creepy because of the Japanese pronunciation of the number 4 - “shi”, which is also how you pronounce “death”.

Posting this recording only because I’m sure...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:44:00 +0100

Posting this recording only because I’m sure someone’s interest may have been piqued. This is very bland, like what I imagine a mashed potato sandwich to taste like.

Flexi discs were a popular give-away in the ’60s and...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:43:00 +0100

Flexi discs were a popular give-away in the ’60s and ’70s. The Beatles, for example, used to send their fan club members one every year with a different christmas greeting on.

In a similar vein, this particular disc came free to those who signed up to the Marvel Fan Club in 1964. Now I’m not really sure what to say about it except that listening to a 49 year old recording of a marching band introducing me to a “Sulky, rather bulky, kinda hulky superhero” in all of its quaintness only serves to remind me just how long superheroes have been a part of popular culture.

You're really beautiful. And you like Bright Eyes. 😍

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:47:38 +0100

Ha, I do like Conor Mullen Oberst born Feb 15th 1980; son of Matthew and Nancy, brother to Matt and Justin.

Just a little bit, mind.

This tie reminded me of Letting Off The Happiness, so of course...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 20:08:05 +0100

This tie reminded me of Letting Off The Happiness, so of course I had to have it.

I found this scarf bundled inside of a box that contained a...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:05:00 +0100

I found this scarf bundled inside of a box that contained a selection of colostomy bags (fortunately unused). Upon unfolding it I made eye contact with this fellow, it was a brief yet powerful moment, in which I felt we had lived an entire friendship. His face contorted in that of abject horror; bore a story privy to no man.

Feeling unsettled by the enforced véjà du I broke my gaze and cast him into a bin-bag - onwards he journeys to Wastesaver, with other cast-off items of stories hitherto unknown.

oh, that last ask reminded me- which charity shops in liverpool are good? like the ones on bold street kind of overprice their stuff a lot of the time which can defeat the point of thrifting

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 23:22:07 +0100

There’s only four on Bold Street at the moment - Take Two and British Heart Foundation are both very inexpensive allowing you to reap most clothes for <£5 with books and bric-a-brac for less than one of our shiny pound sterling.

Oxfam and Cancer Research don’t overprice either, books and records are generally <£3 if they hold no value and anything that is actually worth £££ is priced to about 70% of what you’d pay if you managed to locate it online. Just because they’re not ignorant enough to put a first edition copy of Peter Pan out for 50p doesn’t mean you can really hold a grudge against them.

If you want genuine thrifting thrills then I’d again have to recommend my pals shop 69A on Renshaw street, amidst the expensive antiquities lies dirt cheap clothing and curios galore which should sate your inner magpie.

Venture further afield to the likes of Tuebrook Cat Hospice or the plethora of manky charity shops in Old Swan and you’ll suddenly find the likes of 20p books and the ability to haggle over the fifty pence price tag on a ratty teddy. Most small stretches of shops outside of the town centre have a large offering of thrift stores within so you can’t really wander too far wrong with any choice of destination.

A particular favourite of mine has to be Allerton Road, there’s probably about 8 or so within a quarter mile stretch of the road and while most of their selection is a bit bland you’ll usually walk away with a ’70s cookbook on Microwave Dinners or an antiquated Staffordshire Spaniel china figurine.

My friend bought a van with the aim to customise it into a...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 23:04:00 +0100

My friend bought a van with the aim to customise it into a camper to go travel Europe in during the Summer. Tonight we got cracking on stripping the rear seats out and getting part of a wooden bed frame built to fit the dimensions in the back.

Reminiscent of the toys advertised in the back of comic books of...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:26:00 +0100

Reminiscent of the toys advertised in the back of comic books of the 1950’s; always with their gaudy promises of summer-long thrills that were dashed by months of waiting for delivery and then receiving what equates to be a devilish ruse to swindle your hard-earned ha’penny.

Nothing like carving your own “Fancy Coupe” out of the supplied “Genuine Wood Block” with a dulled and diminutive 1/2” knife.

As some of you know - I used to churn out fairly regular pixel...

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:57:00 +0100

As some of you know - I used to churn out fairly regular pixel art pieces made out of Hama beads. I haven’t done much in that regard for close to a year now. mostly due to me being too poor to afford any materials to work with. Being bored this afternoon has led me to trying my hand at it digitally, and I’ve created this little guy from scratch.

Now I might try animating him!

“I thought I was in Victorian London, mate. I was running...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 23:20:00 +0100

“I thought I was in Victorian London, mate. I was running across the roofs. I thought I was Dickens.”

A forgotten photo from last summer.

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 18:15:22 +0100

A forgotten photo from last summer.

Do you know of any charity shops/any shops in general in Liverpool that sell decent lp's for a decent price? Much love

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:32:00 +0100

Depends on what your music taste is really and what you consider a “decent price”. I’ve seen people kick off at the £3 price tag on records in our shop just as often as people have complimented how cheap they are.

Hairy Records/The Vinyl Emporium closed down a few months ago and of course, up rose the wailing and the weeping to stifle my Facebook feed - people were quick to sing its praises to the high heavens yet I don’t know anyone who ever bought anything in there; from my semi-frequent visits, the records on offer in the ‘Punk’ section, never once changed in the 7 years that I was a customer… the whole place seemed like a relic of the ’70s, clinging on with its grandfathered rent contract and an antiquated stock that stopped getting replenished at least two decades ago. Ignore the cries, nothing was lost that day.

So far as the town centre goes, you have Probe stealing the limelight (if you haven’t been for several years and thought it had closed down, then never fear, it has just moved a few roads over to behind Primark). Their selection mostly consists of the latest releases along with a very admirable half of the shop dedicated to Funk classics, don’t be afraid to give something new a spin! If you’re a bit of a regular then Geoff might even cut you a few deals; otherwise expect to pay RRP on the majority of records.

Aside from that, your next best bet for a diamond in the rough comes in the form of Oxfam on Bold Street, there’s normally a healthy 50 or so saleable records through our doors each week which find their way onto the shelves. We get a lot of very rare albums in and these get priced accordingly (I sold a Jimi Hendrix LP today for £120) but there’s a lot of great stuff that hold surprisingly little value and can be yours for as little as £2. You have to be quick though, most of your Smiths/Sabbath/Floyd/recognisable names don’t tend to last more than a couple of hours.

If you’re willing to venture outside of the city centre then be sure to check out West Derby’s Music Box. It has probably the best selection of Country records in the North and has been knocking around since the late ’50s. Diane who runs it also DJ’s a country hour on Radio Merseyside.

Last but not least, my pals shop 69A on Renshaw Street has a nice selection of albums tucked away amidst all the antiquities and incense haze; have a natter (and maybe a cheeky cup of tea if you’re lucky) and you might even walk away with a healthy discount on your found treasures.

Happy hunting!

Dreams do come true.

Fri, 31 May 2013 01:16:22 +0100

Dreams do come true.

My favourite mug.

Sun, 26 May 2013 20:49:41 +0100

My favourite mug.

“Karma is the numerical representation of your board status....

Fri, 24 May 2013 01:28:00 +0100

“Karma is the numerical representation of your board status. Accounts level 6 or higher earn Karma at a rate of one per day that the account is logged in and visits the message boards at least once.”

After ‘achieving’ this on GameFAQs the other day without any aplomb, I’ve slipped into a funk over how much of a routine my internet habits have become. Gone is the excitement of finding new and interesting websites to fritter my sleepless nights on, instead it is replaced with cycling through the same twenty tabs of comfortable haunts, ad nauseam.

Coffee isn’t the first thing I groggily go for in the mornings after fumbling for my alarm, rather it’s the latest daily Natalie Dee update (at least I can check it on my phone from under the covers these days). I don’t even like her comics now, I mean, I guess I did when I was 14, but that’s beside the point… I’m a victim to my own habits, forced into reading her satirical observations (that after 8 years and 3,000+ instalments are a husk of their former sardonic wit), tricked by routine into thinking it’s as necessary as brushing my teeth before I go out.

Help me, for I am trapped in a world of fast dying social networks and decade dead message boards. Is this what internet addiction feels like?