Blog

Eurorack

Apr 172021

Modular synthesizers were always something that intrigued me but seemed over-complicated for the end result so that had put me off. My early experience with the Behringer Neutron patch bay had not alleviated this concern either as the manual contains no real information on it.

But nothing ventured nothing gained so I made the leap and started my own Eurorack, how advanced it gets will depend on cost, space and dedication.

This, unfortunately, meant I had to do some drastic cutting of my current gear to make space so the Korg DW8000 has been retired along with the little-used NanoBass, NanoSynth and Roland JV-1010. The CZ-101 has been relocated but I may continue to use this. I also lost the Zoom and Roland drum machines as the PC supplies my drum patterns.

I wanted to start with something simple so I got two basic Behringer units the 110 and 140 (copies of the vintage Roland System 100) and a Cre8audio case that has a built-in MIDI to CV converter.

Everything works perfectly

RIP – HRH Duke Of Edinburgh

Blog

Apr 092021

HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh died today aged 99.

Although I am not a devout Royalist I can look at that generation as the part that did make you proud to be British unlike a certain younger member of the household.

The Prince also saw service with the Royal Navy during World War II so for that the nation should be grateful.

Janet Devlin

Blog

Apr 022021

I have for a long time been a fan of Janet Devlin after seeing her at the Victorious Festival back in 2013.

Now of course it helped that she was very pretty even though her online videos were often soaked in self-pity but I was a very big fan of her music which persuaded me to join her Patreon page and contributed £50 a month for the continued creation of new music.

Then she got into tattoos, now I am not a fan of tattoos especially to the extent she was having them done but I let that slide and continued paying for new music.

Now she has had a boob job, yes it looks impressive but she looked fine beforehand.

This has put me in the position where I can no longer justify paying money to someone who has spare cash to waste on tattoos and boob jobs. Now the internet is full of people ready to condemn criticism and defend her which is fine but my money is my own and I choose to no longer fund her.

I will still buy her music as and when it released.

COVID-19 Vaccination

Blog

Mar 232021

I had my first vaccination for COVID-19 on Sunday and apart from a painful arm where it had been injected everything was fine. I had the Oxford–AstraZeneca version.

That was until midday Monday when tiredness took over and a general feeling of having a bad cold and an arm that was virtually useless. Seems all three of us vaccinated at the weekend ended up off sick from it.

Can’t say I’m looking forward to the second one and will book a couple of days off after to be on the safe side.

Danny Cowley appointed Head Coach

Blog, Football, News

Mar 192021

After what seemed an age Portsmouth has finally announced the appointment of Danny Cowley as “First Team Head Coach”. Not sure you should read anything into that description instead of “Manager” but who knows?

Danny Cowley will be assisted by his younger brother Nicky Cowley.

The statement also says on an “initial deal to the end of the season”. If this is true it would put to an end rumours that another manager was already contracted to take over after the intended departure of Kenny Jackett at the end of his contract.

Portsmouth FC Season 20/21

Kenny Jackett

Blog, Football, News

Mar 142021

After yesterdays humiliation at the hands Of Salford City in the ELF Trophy Final, I was going to say it was time for Kenny Jackett to go.

The club has beaten me to it. Kenny Jackett has left the club with immediate effect. Portsmouth released the following statement..

Portsmouth Football Club can confirm the departure of Kenny Jackett as first-team manager.

Chief executive Mark Catlin said: “Portsmouth Football Club would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Kenny for the work he has done during his near four-year spell at the club and we all wish him well for the future.

“It has been an emotional past few weeks for everyone associated with Pompey and we now begin the process – which will be as short as possible – of appointing someone who we believe can give us the best chance of finishing inside the top six. These talks begin today.”

Considering our recent form it is of only partial surprise although many expected him to last till the end of the season when his contract expired although the thought of more months of dire displays filled me with dread.

Now the question is who takes over? Eddie Howe has been mentioned a lot but I think he is well above our current recruitment level. Chris Wilder is another name that crops up although I believe he was previously up for the job but was turned down. We shall wait and see.

Portsmouth FC

Piers Morgan

Blog

Mar 102021

It is fair to say I don’t like Piers Morgan, in fact, I cannot stand the man as he frequently comes across as an arrogant hypocrite of the worse kind.

I am now in the unfortunate situation of supporting him in the controversy surrounding the interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

The ex-Royal couple decided to complain on US television about how bad their lives were over here living in luxury off the UK taxpayer and it was so bad they had to escape public scrutiny by fleeing to the US and signing as many TV chatshow deals as possible so they could live in privacy! Not sure how that works?

Now of course this behaviour is questionable at best so the good actor that Meghan is she laid out the race card and talked about mental illness so of course to the left-leaning national press and TV that means you just can’t question her, even if it is complete bollocks you just can’t question it.

Piers Morgan, not one to keep his mouth shut did question it and so once again the “Cancel Culture” the left tell us doesn’t exist came out in force and he is gone. I just wish he had questioned on national TV who Harry’s real father was.

I fucking hate modern culture.

Burn Notice

Blog

Mar 062021

Well, it took me a while but I finally got to the end of Burn Notice, all 7 seasons (111 episodes).

Now, what did I honestly think of it? Well, it’s okay but possibly not something I’d sit through again. The premise is good for some light action TV and it doesn’t seem like it was made on a budget, for me, the problem is the casting.

Bruce Campbell is, well, Bruce Campbell an actor with natural charisma who brings fun to the role if not entirely convincing as an ex-Navy SEAL. We also have Coby Bell who joins partway through as another agent and he also brings a strong performance. Sharon Gless also adds some quality strength and warmth as the matriarch of the team.

For me, the problem lies with the two main leads in Jeffrey Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar.

Donovan is a good supporting actor but not a leading actor, some of his attempts at playing a hard man are often hit and miss and the voices he uses for his “disguises” are frequently laughable.

As for Anwar at least they had the sense to ditch her Irish accent after the pilot episode. She is a fine actress but she is portrayed as this stunningly beautiful woman who can use her charms to sway men, maybe it’s just me but I don’t find her that stunningly beautiful.

In summary, it was fun and I’m glad I made the effort to finish even if it was becoming a chore at the end.

Ian St John

Blog, Football, News

Mar 022021

Ian St John has died aged 82.

Ian was manager during my early days of watching Portsmouth having taken over from John Mortimore, this was not a happy time for Portsmouth seemingly always in money troubles.

His greatest achievements during this time were probably the discovery of Dave Kemp and the conversion of future England International Steve Foster from an average striker to a class centre half.

He was more widely known first as a member of the Liverpool of the 60s and 70s and then later as part of the very popular TV double act with Jimmy Greaves.

RIP: Ian St John

Shamima Begum

Blog

Feb 262021

In a shocking turn of events, the British Supreme Court has ruled that the poor innocent teen Shamima Begum cannot return to the UK to fight her case.

Well, that would be the opinion of many on the left who would like to paint her as a victim. The reality is she knew damn well what she was heading into and the carnage and slaughter inflicted on others by ISIS did not bother her one bit, well not until ISIS started losing.

I will admit I was surprised as UK Courts seem to make a habit of defending terrorists over their own innocent civilians and maybe the benefit of Brexit will be no CJEU for her to go running to.

Let the bitch rot.

Standard Aero

Blog

Feb 172021

Well, it has been a long time coming but bar any last-minute hitches the new owners of H+S Aviation will be Standard Aero.

Must be a couple of years ago now that Signature Aviation (parent company of H+S Aviation) announced the intention to sell of its Global Engine Services (GES) arm which included us, Dallas Airmotive and IGS. Rumours were abundant as to who would be buying us and the name Standard Aero never far from the top of that list but then just before Christmas we heard that Signature Aviation as a whole was on the verge of being bought out and at the time GIP and Blackstones were in a bidding war and later merged to make a joint offer.

At the time we thought that was the end of the attempt to sell us off but this morning we hear the deal has been done to sell GES to Standard Aero.

We are not sure where that leaves us in the long terms Standard Aero own a large area of land in Gosport on what use to be Fleetlands.

Unemployment may be on the horizon.

Blood test

Blog

Feb 162021

Well wasn’t I a brave boy, after almost passing out the last few times I managed to stay fully conscious for this turn although I did turn down the opportunity of a flu jab.

Still don’t think I will be rushing to become a blood donor again.

Joss Whedon

Blog

Feb 132021

It appears that Joss Whedon, as well as being one of the greatest writers ever, is also a bit of a dick.

There had been complaints first from Ray Fisher initially and then later Gal Gadot about Whedon’s antics on Justice League but that film was beset with problems from the start so maybe not an easy set to be on but now allegations have also surfaced about his time as a creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Charisma Carpenter has been very critical of him, alleging he “abused his power” and made it a toxic work environment, then both Michelle Trachtenberg and Amber Benson have also come out in support whilst Sarah Michelle Gellar, although not making allegations herself, has come out in support of her co-stars.

I find it a bit sad really as it always seemed such a happy set and behind the scenes footage never gave any concerns of unrest and to this day it still remains my favourite ever show.

Goes to prove that when you get someone as vocal as Joss was about women empowerment they are probably hiding something.

Gina Carano

Blog

Feb 112021

Now I don’t know much about Gina Carano other than her stint in Deadpool but she appears to be a strong-willed modern female that fits in perfectly with modern Hollywood.

Well, she would if her strong-willed free-thinking was far left so as a result, she is the victim of Cancel Culture.

Now the left will point to it being her mentioning the Holocaust in a Tweet but they had been seeking to cancel her ever since she came out as pro-Trump which you just can’t do in the entertainment industry. An important lesson to learn is you can be a strong-minded woman but only if you don’t “wrong-think”.

#CancelDisney #CancelDisneyPlus