Judge Death - Legendary Comic Book Heroes

Who says there's never anything worth having in Matelan? I just got the Legendary Comic Book Heroes Judge Death figure - AND the variant Transparent Judge Death figure - for £2 each. Whoop! They had a few others from the series, and some Marvel action figures, but unfortunately there wasn't anything else I was interested in...

Klaus Schulze with Lisa Gerrard - Rheingold DVD/CD

Just got my copy of the Klaus Schulze DVD/CD package Rheingold. The DVDs feature the live concert from Loreley earlier this year, plus a documentary and interview. The CDs feature the concert plus a bonus track. All very gothic and Wagnerian, it might not be the best Klaus Schulze concert ever - there's too much of Lisa Gerrard 'singing' - but it's a great package, with Dolby and DTS surround sound on the DVDs. Despite Schulze's prodigious output there's very little of him on video. Okay, a figure who looks like a geography teacher hunched behind banks of synths doesn't make for great visuals - but this is the world's greatest musician, for goodness sake. The full SPV package is £30, the DVDs and CDs are available separately if you prefer. Get them from the ever-reliable Compact Disc Services, www.cd-services.com.

Nash the Slash on Phantomcircuit

Go to http://phantomcircuit.wordpress.com for a podcast of Nash the Slash interviewed and in concert in Birmingham the other week. Good stuff, better than the recording I got, or rather failed to get, in London...!

Star Fleet on DVD

If you remember Star Fleet, the early '80s manga-style marionette series which was a bit like Thunderbirds on acid, you'll be thrilled to hear that it's coming out on DVD for the first time. It's due out on February 9th 2009 from Fabulous Films, in a great-looking box set with all 24 episodes, loads of extras, postcards and a comic book, all for £39.99. Can't wait.

Nash the Slash in London

Saw Nash the Slash at the Purple Turtle in Camden last night; he was fine, though the set was a bit predictable. Got the latest Nash album, In-A-Gadda-Da-Nash; not his greatest, rather bland cover versions. Support act Young Things Don't Scream, an elderly Gary Numan tribute band, were surprisingly good. The three other support bands ranged from awful to embarrassing.

Hot Wheels Batmobile

For Christmas, I've had the Hot Wheels 1/18th Scale '60s Batmobile - a bargain from Forbidden Planet at £36.99, minus 10% discount because they were having a sale. I also got the 1/43rd scale Batbike. Of course, I already want the forthcoming Super Elite Batmobile - but that's £250 or something, so I won't indulge. I might, though, head over to website Pimp My Batmobile (http://pimpmybatmobile.yuku.com) for some tips on how to upgrade my Standard to Elite!

Barry Gray on the South Bank

On Saturday I had a marvellous time at the Barry Grey centenary concert at the Royal Festival Hall. The Philharmonia Orchestra, Voces8 vocal ensemble, pianist Crispin Merrell and Ondes Martenot player Pascale Rousse-Lacordaire played a rousing selection of pieces from Thunderbirds, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, UFO, Joe 90, Space: 1999 and more. Several fans turned up in costume, and we got a chance to meet Scott Tracy. Brian Blessed presided, and Gerry Anderson hovered around - I saw him in the hospitality room but didn't stop to chat. During the concert they projected scenes from the Blu-ray edition of Thunderbirds, but at £120 for the 6-disc set, I think I'll settle for my DVDs.

Jean Michel Jarre's hi-fi

I see Jean Michel Jarre has gone into the hi-fi business. Apparently he's designed a home cinema system, an iPod dock, a multimedia display and so on. So far, the iPod dock is for sale in France only at around € 450. The others are presumably in the design stage. I think I'll ask for a 5.1 system for Christmas 2012. See the website at http://www.jmjarretechnologies.com/.

CME U-Key controller keyboard - in pink

This £129 USB controller keyboard looks interesting - though apparently it's aimed at people who want to compose ringtones for mobile phones!? More from http://sonic8.com/.

Next door's cat

Next door's cat is a very beautiful Maine Coon. She comes and sits on our step, or hides under a bush, refusing to come out for a cuddle. One day, maybe.

Tangerine Dream, London Eye Concert 2008

I went to see Tangerine Dream at the Forum, Kentish Town on Saturday; here's a pic taken from the balcony, where the idiots who run the Forum had decided to have unallocated seating - so you paid for a seat but still had to fight for a decent one. Anyway, the three-hour concert was predictably hard going - Tangerine Dream haven't been much good since Chris Franke left, and the latest version, swamped with guitar, sax and percussion, sounds more like some Californian New Age soft-rock combo than a pioneering experimental synth band. Yet all the talk on the chat forums is of how great they were. Go figure. Well, at least they did Going West. Anyway, it's probably the last time I'll be able to whip up the energy to go to see them, but I'm looking forward to Edgar Froese's forthcoming book, provisionally titled 'Bouncing Back; or, Needless to Say I Had the Last Laugh.'

Radio-controlled Davros

Who wouldn't want a 5", radio-controlled, talking Davros? Coming soon from all stockists of Character Options Doctor Who stuff, £17 or so

New toy - Korg DDD-1 sampling board

Just got this from eBay - the optional sampling board for the Korg DDD-1 drum machine. Samples two crunchy 8-bit sounds and stores them on the RAM card. I may never use it, but it's a nice toy.

Nash the Slash back in the UK!

Details on his website - see Links

Jelly cat

Delicious tangerine jelly cat - I particularly enjoyed his little raspberry nose