Madness

September 12, 2016EU Referendum, Great British Strokes, Pop Music, Stroke2 Tone, EU Referendum, Madness, Prince Buster, ska, The Specialsricky

The Brexit referendum could have been an invigorating exercise in participatory democracy, addressing important issues about subsidiarity, regulation, and the like. Instead, it was presented as a discussion of a post-Brexit wishlist in which dues no longer payable to the EU could be spent on [insert cause of your choice].

But now, the reformed Vote Leave, called Change Britain, have dropped their pre-referendum pledge of a £350m-a-week spending bonanza for the NHS.

Happy Han-UKIP-ah! GEDDIT?! — “How are we maintaining this bonfire with so few manifesto pages?”

Don’t worry – this post is actually about awesome ska legend Prince Buster… Continue reading Madness →

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Way Too Blue

September 5, 2016Death, Edinburgh, Lists, Pop MusicEdinburgh Blues Club, Howlin' Wolf, Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Nick Drake, Robbie Hill, Robert Crayricky

Do you know the way to blue? This guy does.

What? The Canadian rapper guy? — Not that one. The other one.

Like Nick Drake, I’ve got to assume that most people who’ve suffered the effects of a stroke – and their loved ones – are familiar with the blues. And some of them may even look out the Blues as a form of therapy. I can’t locate the exact quote, but someone once said

It’s a sad music that makes you feel happy.

So it was that Mrs Stroke Bloke and I went along with a couple of friends to a show put on by the Edinburgh Blues Club on Friday.

[Extra time to waste on Labor Day (US)? Get more apoplexy here.]

Continue reading Way Too Blue →

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A Northern Soul

August 29, 2016Books, Edinburgh, Pop Music, ReviewsEdinburgh International Book Festival, Gerry Loves Records, Johnny Mae Matthews, Linda Jones, Northern Soul, Stuart Cosgrove, Young Soul Rebelsricky

Tonight, the Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe will be over for another year. Once again, the shows I went to see for The Edinburgh Reporter were never less than interesting, and the second half of the month was no less thought-provoking.

In addition to the stuff I mentioned last week, Daniel Kitson at the Traverse was great, and AL Kennedy at the Book Festival was a masterclass on how to take an audience with you when reading off the page.

Put on a proper suit, do up your tie, and sing the Star-Spangled Banner — This year’s recommendation for the NYC apoplectic massive

Blog hero Paul Morley on Bowie didn’t translate well to the inherently conservative milieu of Charlotte Square, but perhaps the most gripping night of August was… Continue reading A Northern Soul →

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Powder Puff

August 22, 2016Edinburgh, ReviewsAlan Cumming, Dandy Darkly, Edinburgh Festival, Fringe Festival, Henry Rollins, Liza Minnelliricky

We’re well into the second half of the 2016 Edinburgh Festival and Fringe. When apoplectic.me isn’t counting its existence in major international soccer tournaments, it’s counting it in Festivals (2013, 2014, 2015).

"Get the gimp" — 2016: Mrs Stroke Bloke loves owls. In a very particular way.

The beginning of the Fringe is always a bit of a whirl. I’m doing reviews and interviews during preview week and the first week proper. For the second half of the month, it’s more a case of hanging on and getting through to the end.

[If you hang on and get to the end of this post, there’s the Apoplexy Tiny Letter, too.] Continue reading Powder Puff →

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The Elephant’s Nelly – Pt 2

August 15, 2016Edinburgh, EU Referendum, Mindfulness, Politics, Referendum, US ElectionsDonald Trump, Henry Rollins, Hillary Clinton, Marcus Brigstocke, Nigel Farage, The Modern Loversricky

Before being distracted by something shiny last week, I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on with this Donald Trump thing. Why, over the past week, have presidential general election polls continued to see Trump bouncing along at 40%, when he’s indicated that a Trump presidency would look like this?

Hurrah for the Stuffed Shirt! — To be fair, The Daily Mail would take a more celebratory approach

That’s an actual [inside] page from this The Globe back in April, described as the front page we hope we never have to print. The accompanying editorial called Trump’s White House run “flippant and reckless” and “profoundly un-American”. But while this would all seem obvious from within The Globe‘s newsroom, or my Twitter feed, Trump easily won the Massachusetts Republican primary, collecting 22 delegates and nearly 50% of the vote. Meanwhile, over 50% of the voters in the recent EU referendum in these islands voted for an Out campaign fronted by Trump-like trolls.

So rather than dismissing this tendency out of hand, I’ve been trying to think a little about how we came to this pass. Continue reading The Elephant’s Nelly – Pt 2 →

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The Elephant’s Nelly

August 10, 2016Dr. Who, Edinburgh, EU Referendum, Mental Health, Politics, Stroke, US ElectionsDonald Trump, Eddie Mair, John Oliver, Kathleen Parker, Marcus Brigstocke, Presidential electionricky

L ast week’s post was described by The Prof as a perfect distillation of an apoplectic.me post – presumably in the hope that I would JUST STOP ALREADY!!! Well, I won’t. Because I distilled it even further, and it was presented on Broadcasting Giant Eddie Mair‘s Radio 4 PM show on 5th August.

Apparently super-strong cannabis was more important. Which is fair enough. — I come in at around 46m 09s

[Can’t stop, won’t stop? Get more apoplexy straight to your inbox here.] Continue reading The Elephant’s Nelly →

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Cairnpapple Hill

August 1, 2016Classical Music, Composed Music, Mindfulness, Movies, Politics, Pop Music, Relationships, TravelBob Dylan, Cairnpapple Hill, David Cameron, Day of the Dead, I'm Not There, Morrissey, PM, Shostakovich, Spinal Tap, The Grateful Deadricky

Tiny Letter readers will know that Mrs Stroke Bloke and I visited Cairnpapple Hill in central Scotland last weekend. It was an enlightening trip, in light of last week’s post on ’80s movies. Like Withnail and Marwood, we came across a bull in a field. And turning to an obvious omission pointed out by Atletico Marcelo in the comments, Cairnpapple was the site of a little henge.

Beneath the haunted moon/For fear that daybreak might come too soon — Where the little children danced, no doubt.

Continue reading Cairnpapple Hill →

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I Hate the ’80s

July 25, 2016Dr. Who, Edinburgh, Lists, Movies, Nerd Bait, Reviews, StrokeBad Timing, Brazil, Comfort and Joy, Ghostbusters, The Breakfast Club, Withnail and Iricky

Last week, I promised readers of the Apoplexy Tiny Letter a break from the political stuff, after the recent Democracy trilogy (1, 2, 3). And after last week’s Frankie Goes to Hollywood-mendous post, why not stay in the comforting nostalgic embrace of the ’80s?

Where's the pic of Michael Foot's donkey jacket?! — Dude. Those are clearly C21st Kayne shades.

I mean, seriously? Kayne, John Mayer, and The Police’s version of Message In a Bottle at 2007’s Live Earth concert to combat climate change made me want the Earth’s surface to be heated to 100,000,000°C. But we spoke about that sort of thing last week. And haemorrhagic stroke survivors are meant to keep their blood pressure down. So. Pleasant thoughts… Continue reading I Hate the ’80s →

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Relax

July 18, 2016Death, Dr. Who, Edinburgh, Politics, Scottish IndependenceFrankie Boyle, Raif Badawi, Scottish Parliament, Trident debatericky

Over the last two weeks, Stroke Bloke has reported from Berlin and London on modern iterations of democracy. Today, a report from closer to home…

Last week’s post, Monarchy had a hint of the oracle about it. I asked

Can Angela [Eagle] fit 172 Labour Party MPs in her tiny battle bus before its square wheels fall off?

And that very night, the Labour Party’s National executive committee voted to allow Jeremy Corbyn, as the incumbent leader of the party, to enter the party’s leadership election without having to collect the nominations of 50 of his MPs and MEPs.

Now the square wheels have fallen off #AngelaEagle‘s tiny battle bus at #LabourNEC, a rerun: https://t.co/m9EbDySqAi pic.twitter.com/7fyReZEnTi

— Ricky Brown (@ricky_ballboy) July 12, 2016

But let’s leave that aside for now – who can predict British politics at the moment?

The other question that was left hanging at the end of last week’s post was

What happened when I had a chance to visit the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood…?

Need more whimsy and obscure ’90s indie references to getting through the working week? Check out the Apoplexy Tiny Letter. Continue reading Relax →

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Monarchy

July 12, 2016Blog News, EU Referendum, PoliticsAndrea Leadsom, Angela Eagle, Chilcot Report, Ian Austin, Iraq Warricky

At the end of last week’s post on Democracy, I asked

And 1,000 years of glorious autocratic rule at apoplectic.me — Where “this” = puns, whimsy, and dated British indie music, obviously

I was quite pleased with the turnout, although I wouldn’t call it overwhelming. Nevertheless, we have a decision and I intend to carry out the wishes of the apoplectic public. Although I suppose that after my triumph, I should resign from the blog and let another blogger pick up the pieces. Someone with high level experience, and a knowledge of dated British indie music and puns. And a mum, preferably. A mum of kids. A mum of kids who can maintain the high moral tone of the blog. But who fits the bill??? Continue reading Monarchy →

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Apoplectic Me

the scribblings of a bloke who had a stroke…

Madness

Way Too Blue

A Northern Soul

Powder Puff

The Elephant’s Nelly – Pt 2

The Elephant’s Nelly

Cairnpapple Hill

I Hate the ’80s

Relax

Monarchy