Her

A rewatch for this 2013 film, about a man falling in love with his artificially intelligent operating system. The protagonist is a man called Theodore Twombly, making a living by writing heartfelt personalised letters on behalf of other people (beautifullyhandwrittenletters.com) and living on his own whilst going through a painful divorce. He installs a new operating system on his computer (that quaintly comes on a disc with an instruction leaflet) that promises to revolutionise his life by adapting and learning from him. After answering some personal questions and selecting the female voice, he finds himself in conversation with his new companion as she sorts through his old emails and organises his contacts.

He starts to form an attachment to Samantha (as the AI decides to call herself), which quickly grows into romance and even sexual feelings. I remember a great deal of scepticism at the time (and also expressed by some of the other characters) that someone would possibly have a meaningful relationship with an AI, but evidently many people are now doing exactly that. 

Perhaps the most science fictional element is that his conversation is picked up perfectly by his wireless earbuds (did we have those in 2013?) without the usual palaver of "Alexa, switch the light on" "I'm sorry, I couldn't find a device or group called light". Director Spike Jonze also completely missed the obvious conclusion that the only reason a software company would release an AI operating system is so that they could hoover up as much personal data as possible to send targeted ads and political propaganda to the user as they can.

Heart of Empire by Bryan Talbot

This story picks up twenty or so years after the previous volume. The main protagonist is Victoria, the Princess Royal, daughter of Queen Anne and Luther Arkwright. Her mother is now Empress of most of the world and is depicted as a grasping octopus in scurrilous pamphlets being distributed by revolutionary suffragists calling for (gasp!) a system of democracy. Victoria makes a habit of walking amongst the common folk and evidently is keen to understand what their grievances are, unlike her mother appearing at court in grand Elizabethan style regalia to issue her decrees whilst hiding a ghastly secret.

As well as the revolutionary forces, other factions are at play - an assassin sent by a dying pope, a cabal of Neo-puritan fascists led by the head of Anne's secret police, an American journalist and his younger companion who seems to be remarkably adept at fighting, and various other characters drawn from the real world including Princess Diana and Kenny Baker. Of Luther Arkwright himself, there is no sign other than a memorial statue and a young revolutionary who bears a startling resemblance to him (and to Victoria). 

The action plays out over an ominous countdown of five days to an unspecified cataclysm. Preparations are under way for a grand victory day celebration at a newly constructed Crystal Palace, mysterious sigils keep appearing, psychic forces are building and the mystery deepens page by page.

The art style in this story is closer to a traditional comic book, and it's gorgeously coloured rather than the previous monochrome. It's still phenomenally detailed though, with some stunning sequences of hallucinations and dreams, switching between multiple silent panels and splash pages. The story is more linear than before, but Talbot is happy to take his time in the narrative unlike the traditional comic style that demands that everything be wrapped up in a 23 page issue including an obligatory fight scene. 

In retrospect, it was the right move to take a different approach with this volume both in style and tone, although there are many callbacks and references to it, and the theme contrasts the tyranny of monarchy with its mirror self of the puritan fascism. It would be nice to think (as Talbot concludes) that non-violent resistance will lead to democratic socialism, but, well, that idea is left as an exercise for the reader.

In conclusion, an excellent piece of work, not quite on the same level as the first story, but it really would have been difficult to top that. It's certainly made me want to revisit Alice in Sunderland as well as buying some of Talbot's other books.

Note, Morning Glory

Memo note to self
Don’t google Morning Glory
With safe search switched off

Pilgrimage

Journey of the heart
Each step a meditation 
Let us be valiant

Wind, Chill

The weather forecast
Shows what it feels like outside
It’s effin freezing!

Electric Prunes by The Electric Prunes

The Electric Prunes were a garage band who were genuinely discovered playing in a garage by a record company exec who happened to be passing at the time. The album opens with a nice bit of late 60s psychedelia in I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) but after that it’s very much diminishing returns with some second rate love songs and novelty numbers, with the whole album clocking in at 30 minutes. 

File under a historical curiosity rather than an essential listen.

Fun game! Find your 60s psychedelic garage band name by combining your favourite dried fruit with a power source - mine is the Solar Sultanas!

https://album.link/gb/i/655574615

Ill Communication by Beastie Boys

When I first heard the Beastie Boys back in the 80s, I really didn’t like them. Partly for the embarrassment of white people rapping, partly for the absurd adoption of VW badges as a fashion accessory but mostly because of the way they used the word party as a verb. It wasn’t until sometime in the 90s that I heard this album and went back to give the meticulously crafted Paul’s Boutique a chance. 

This album is less sample heavy, and the rapping is still a bit cringeworthy in places (Why do they have to SHOUT, at the end of every LINE?), but the music is pretty good, all things considered. Sabotage is a certified banger helped by the excellent music video directed by Spike Jonze. 

A solid 3 stars, and I think I may well give some of their later albums a chance too.

https://album.link/gb/i/724771323