THROWBACK THURSDAY: The Majesty of Dungeness

Visiting an open studio at Dungeness, out front was their 'grave yard' of old tools

Back in 2018, Rachel and I celebrated our wedding anniversary with a short getaway to the coast, with Alice, staying at the hotel we'd stayed at for my 50th birthday.

On our actual anniversary, we visited Dungeness... and I fell in love. It's now giving Wales a run for its money as my dream retirement venue. And I hope to get back there as part of my 60th birthday celebrations.

An isolated headland, consisting largely of pebble beaches, adjacent to the iconic Dungeness Nuclear Power Stations, there's a Portmeirion-level quirkiness to the homes that dot the area, an idiosyncratic blend of cutting edge architecture, tumble-down Victorian fishing huts and 1930s chalets.

The whole area has an atmospheric cinematic bleakness, reminiscent of the alien gravel pits of classic era Doctor Who or the weird science of Simon Stålenhag’s Tales From The Loop, that encourages eccentricity in its inhabitants.

It must be haunted, right? A totally round house would be interesting to decorate.
Also, note the wild rabbit resting in the grass in front of the wall.

It's no wonder it has a thriving artistic community and was, famously, the home of visionary director and artist Derek Jarman.

There's no phone signal and no wi-fi, even our satnav went a bit bananas as we were trying to find the car park for the railway station - the end of the line of the world-famous Romney Hythe & Dymchurch small railway.

Some people would say that "bleak" was a negative, pejorative, term to use for the area - but I would say that was all part of its stark, soul-shivering charm.

I took a number of photographs, but not many of the actual houses there as I felt awkward about snapping pictures of private property where people were living. And they don't really go in for many fences around their homes, they're just 'there' among the pebble expanse.

If you like places that give you goosebumps because you feel you're walking on a different planet (or, at least, an inventive facsimile of one from a retro sci-fi movie) then Dungeness is a place you need to visit.

You can read more about the geography of the area here at Wikipedia.

Doubling-down on the atmosphere, the area was shrouded in mist when we arrived.

FLY YOUR GEEK FLAG HIGH AS TODAY IS OUR NINETEENTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!!

The only sensible way to settle domestic discussions

Not only is May the 25th (the original) Star Wars Day Towel Day (in recognition of Douglas Adams and Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy), and The Glorious 25th of May for Terry Pratchett fans, but it also happens to be our nineteenth wedding anniversary!

Rachel and I were married in a Star Wars-themed wedding... on the anniversary of the day the original film made its debut in 1977.

The commercial hubbub around May The 4th as Star Wars Day grows every year, especially since the arrival of Disney Plus, and I'm not adverse to any excuse to celebrate all things Star Wars, but, ultimately, I'm an old school, orthodox, Jedi who will always mark May 25 as his Star Wars Day.

Rachel and I tied the knot at Salomons in Southborough (between Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge), where I made sure all the guests' tables were named after planets from the Star Wars Universe.

Rachel's arrival music was the Imperial March (still her personalised ringtone on my phone... which always makes me giggle when she calls), and Darth Vader was our ring-bearer.

It was such an amazing day.

And the adventure continues... thanks to the love of my incredibly tolerant and understanding wife.

The Force is strong in Rachel, she supports most of my geeky whims and copes incredibly with the dramatic swings of my unpredictably variable physical and mental health.

Always by my side (metaphorically), she's definitely the best co-pilot since Chewbacca.

Nineteenth anniversaries are usually associated with "bronze", so I could have, for example, asked for something to do with Bronze Age gaming miniatures (yayyyy, Ancient Greeks!) or my favourite footballer, Lucy Bronze, but, as ever, our gifts to each other were an even more eccentric mix of our own hobbies and interests.

I got Rachel a collection of miniature weights (that really have some weight to them!) for her current dolls house project (a modern property), while she got me The Legend of Zelda Encyclopaedia.

Not that I play video games, but I thought this mighty tome would be a useful reference for the Twilight Sword RPG campaign I'm thinking about.

And it's a thing of beauty: so much information, so much world building. Perfect inspiration, no matter what fantasy campaign idea I finally settle on.

It's also weird to think - not that it's important because we both love our presents - that those tiny weights (and their stand) cost around the same price as my fully-illustrated, hardback, 325-page book!

Happy Anniversary To Us

The Problem with Coruscant (Planet Cities Explained)

What happens when a city never ends? No farmland. No oceans. Just a planet-wide urban machine — towers stacked 5,000 levels deep.

This video explores the ecumenopolis, a concept from the 1960s by Constantinos Doxiadis, who believed humanity might urbanize the entire Earth.

Through Coruscant (Star Wars) and Trantor (Asimov’s Foundation) — fully urban planets with over a trillion inhabitants — we ask: is a planet-city truly possible, or destined to collapse?

We break down Coruscant’s layers — from the political Emergent Level, to the criminal Underworld, to heat-choked machine tiers — exposing the brutal logistics of feeding, cooling, powering, and moving a civilization with zero nature.

Doxiadis imagined a fractal, human-scaled ecumenopolis, grown through Ekistics, with walking-distance cores and protected green lungs.

So — could a planet-city work through flexibility over control?

Or would it, like Rome, collapse the moment the grain stops flowing?

Since it was first introduced into Star Wars lore, I've always been fascinated by the idea of Coruscant.

It was even the name of the head table at our wedding, where all the tables were named after Star Wars planets.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: That Time We Were Featured In A Supermarket Tabloid

Photo by Antoni Shkraba

When Rachel and her colleagues at work were moving offices several years ago she brought home a selection of lost and forgotten "treasures" that had been unearthed.

Key among them was an old copy of trashy tabloid magazine Love It! which featured "our story". 

Cover dated July, 2007, this issue featured a semi-factual, rather sensational retelling of "Our Miracle Wedding", a truncated version of the story of my sudden, unexpected, aneurysm; the stroke I suffered on the operating table; my recovery; my marriage proposal; and our wedding.

This sterling example of high-quality journalism was tucked away on page 24 amongst the ridiculous 'true life' accounts of scandalous celebrity gossip, money-saving household tips, horoscopes, and sordid sex tales.

Basically what would now be termed "click-bait".

I wasn't sure about rereading the article (for the first time since I read it upon publication), in case it triggered unpleasant memories of my near-death experience.

But I needn't have worried, the overwrought retelling of Rachel's heroic handling of the whole situation, saving my life and placing me forever in her debt, actually brought on a smile of pride instead.

While it's rather insulting to dismiss the story of my brush with the Grim Reaper as a "speedy read" suitable for when you're waiting in the queue for a bus, it's an oddly concrete reminder of a time when things were moving so fast that no one thought about capturing the moment for posterity.

The paltry payment we earned from selling our story went towards 'spending money' for our trip to Disneyland Paris later that year.

I seem to recall that we would have got more if we'd been able to supply a picture of me in a hospital bed, all wired in to the machines that go 'beep', with tubes down my throat and up my nose... but camera phones just weren't as ubiquitous then as they are today... and, anyway, there's a degree of dignity and personal privacy involved.

And they weren't offering THAT much for a hospital shot.

[REC] 3: Genesis

Although sub-titled "Genesis", I got the impression that this latest Spanish zombie flick was supposedly taking place simultaneously with the first two found-footage [REC] movies, rather than being any sort of definite "origin story".

It is the wedding day of Koldo (Diego Martin) and Clara (Leticia Dolera) and the first twenty minutes or so of [REC] 3: Genesis is spliced together from footage shot at the their wedding and then the start of their reception at an out-of-town stately home.

Barring an innocuous comment from an uncle about being bitten by a dog before the wedding this first act could almost be the set-up for a rom-com or a drama, but then uncle takes a header off a balcony into the middle of the ball room while everyone's partying... and things start to go a bit mental.

The zombie virus spreads like wildfire as the survivors split up and try to make it to safety.

The found-footage format is quickly abandoned once [REC] 3 shows its true colours as a straight-up zombie film and while some people might say this is what made the [REC] movies special, I prefer to think of their USP as their treatment of zombies.

Flesh-eaters here are not the plague-creatures we are used to from The Walking Dead or George Romero movies, but supernatural entities unable to enter holy ground, burned by holy water and whose true demonic visages are revealed in mirrored surfaces.

It here that "Genesis" comes in to play, for its Biblical reference, and the suggestions that these are fallen angels/demons rather than typical Hollywood zombies.

"Found-footage" movies have had their day anyway, so I for one was quite pleased when [REC] 3 reverted to a more mainstream style.

It worked brilliantly for the first [REC] and quite well again in the second, but did people really want yet another rehash?

It was a brave step by writer/director Paco Plaza to take a franchise so integrally-attached to to one particular style of film-making and, in mid-stream, switch to a more traditional method of telling a horror story.

Around this point, [REC] 3 also takes a distinct Dungeons & Dragons twist with Koldo tooling up in a suit of armour found in the stately home's chapel to St George and wielding a wicked looking spiked mace (not that I remember him actually using it), while a priest finds he is able to hold the undead at bay through the power of prayer.

As well as a clever zombie survival tale, [REC] 3 also manages to be a brilliant love story - with Koldo and Clara forced apart at the start of the carnage and then forever driven to get back to each other, sensing that that soul mate is still alive and motivating them not to abandon the scene.

Also, unlike the earlier films in the franchise, there is a distinct vein of black humour running through what is ultimately a tragic tale, but without diminishing the splatter quotient for the gorehounds among us.

My exposure to Spanish cinema is, admittedly, limited so I don't know if it's common to all Spanish movies or simply the [REC] ones, but they do manage to secure the most amazing-looking female leads.

I didn't think it was possible for anyone to out-cute Manuela Velasco from the first films, but Leticia Dolera is simply stunning - and a fine action-actress to boot.

I could quite easily have watched just 77 minutes of Leticia, but as an added bonus she's thrown in to a superb zombie movie that also serves as an antidote to those who are less than keen about the staid formality of family weddings.

IT'S OUR EIGHTEENTH WEDDING ANNIVERSAY!!!

The ritual exchange of gifts and cards

Eighteen years ago today Rachel and I got married.

Yesterday, we marked the occasion with a lovely meal at The North Pole in Waterinbury, with Rachel's parents (who very kindly paid) and later presented us with a magnificent array of lights for our garden.

Lunch at The North Pole

This morning Rachel and I exchanged our own gifts (none - thankfully - matching the official "porcelain" theme of an 18th wedding anniversary, it must be noted): I got her a dinosaur dress and another cheery book about the horrors of Auschwitz, while she gave me a box set of Stephen King's Dark Tower saga and a large bar of chocolate.

The plan had been to visit Raystede animal sanctuary later, but we both fell asleep and when we woke there wasn't enough time to get to the rescue centre.

Instead, we opted to take Alice on a walk around our nearby lake, where we met a lot of other dog walkers, so that was lovely.

Haysden Country Park

There's always time for ice cream on a healthy country walk

Of course, not only is May 25 our wedding anniversary, but also (the original) Star Wars Day Towel Day (in recognition of Douglas Adams and Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy).

Rachel and I were married in a Star Wars-themed wedding... on the anniversary of the day the original film made its debut in 1977.

The hubbub around May The 4th as Star Wars Day grows every year, especially since the arrival of Disney+, and I'm not adverse to any excuse to celebrate all things Star Wars, but, ultimately, I'm an old school, orthodox, Jedi who will always mark May 25 as his Star Wars Day.

Rachel and I tied the knot at Salomons in Southborough (between Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge),where I made sure all the guests' tables were named after planets from the Star Wars Universe.

Rachel's arrival music was the Imperial March (still her personalised ringtone on my phone... which always makes me giggle when she calls), and Darth Vader was our ring-bearer.

It was such an amazing day.

And the adventure continues... thanks to the love of my incredibly tolerant and understanding wife.

The Force is strong in Rachel, she supports most of my geeky whims and copes incredibly with the dramatic swings of my unpredictably variable physical and mental health.

One of our great wedding pictures: The only sensible way to settle domestic discussions

THROWBACK THURSDAY: The Force Is Strong With This One

Like many younglings of my generation, Star Wars spoke to me in ways other movies never did.

People often talk about being "blown away" the first time they saw the Imperial Star Destroyer rumble into shot during the opening sequence of Star Wars.

It didn't have that effect on me - for me it was totally normal; in my 10-year-old mind's eye that's what spaceships had always looked like. This was space stuff as it always should have been!

My dad took me to see Star Wars when it first came out and it was one of those rare films that really bridged the age gap.

From seeing Star Wars on the big screen, with my dad, in 1977 a fanboy was born.

I started a scrap book (cover pictured above) of Star Wars newspaper and magazine articles, along with the "Who's Who"s from the black-and-white British Star Wars comics, and a strange diagram of the Death Star trench.

As well as hordes of bubblegum cards and a small selection of action figures (I mainly remember Han Solo and Darth Vader); my collecting mania had begun.

More importantly, I wrote voraciously.

Since primary school I'd filled spare exercise books with rambling Earth-centric science-fiction and action stories, but now they took on epic, space opera qualities, filled with alien planets and strange creatures, inspired by George Lucas and his masterpiece.

Somehow I knew, albeit subconsciously, that this was a film unlike any other. A phenomenon. And the world would never be the same again.

Almost four decades later and George Lucas' creation is still impacting my life.

Even though Rachel isn't a fan and it was actually a total co-incidence that we were married on May 25, 2007 (the 30th anniversary of the opening of Star Wars), we still had The Imperial March as Rachel's bridal music and she had secretly arranged for 'Darth Vader' to act as ring bearer.

At the time, Paul (my best man) was working as Assistant Editor of New Consumer magazine  and so our wedding earned a mention in their promotional material for 'alternative' weddings (as a faux new report video).

The table names for the wedding breakfast were all planets from the Saga (the head table was Cosuscant) and our cake topper was this delightful tiny replica of myself as Han Solo and Rachel as Princess Leia. They still have pride-of-place in the dinning room cabinet display, along with a number of Star Wars-themed Mr Potato Heads (Darth Tater, Spudtrooper etc)!

In my world, Star Wars surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the Galaxy together; it is such a part of my life, of who I am, it connects me to my late father, it is woven into the fabric of my wedding and continues to be a major factor in my geekdom.

Joe Bob's Going Back To The Drive-In

I guess it's fair to say that most adults have a book from their formative years that helped shape their life and thinking going forward.

However, as I've said before, mine wasn't full of fairy stories, but rather delightfully grungy reviews of even grungier movies.

My life-changing book was 1989's Joe Bob Goes to The Drive-In.

You can read here about how this book kindled a spark in me to review movies, which, of course, then propelled my life in a whole new direction, going to university, then heading into public relations, meeting Rachel, getting married etc.

The good news - no, great news - is the long-out-print Joe Bob Goes To The Drive-In is getting a funky reprint this October, courtesy of Dark Horse, in "a brand new updated and expanded art book-sized hardcover edition."

Scheduled for an October 14 publication, the 2025 edition will include "... new writing, movie reviews, and fan letters not seen in over 40 years, plus new artwork by comic book artist Mike Norton and an introduction by Stephen King".

Mike Norton is, of course, the genius creator of one of my all-time favourite comic books: Battlepug.

As well as Norton's new art, this 200-page tome boasts features "Joe Bob Briggs’ writing on beloved horror classics ranging from Basket Case to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to The Evil Dead, [and] is essential reading for all drive-in cinema and Joe Bob Briggs fans".

This is very exciting news for me. I haven't read Joe Bob Goes To The Drive-In for decades (and I discovered I actually had two copies the other year when sorting through my shelves), but the prospect of getting hold of an expanded, new edition fills my ragged little heart with glee.