Dom's Rambles

Having recently set my heart on a Sam Totman signature model Ibanez guitar I’ve been doing a little online research, looking for the best deals and such, and have subsequently discovered that there is a new version of the Iceman available, the very sexy looking ICT-700, which is just as tempting.

I remember that the budget version, the HM-10V, was in a finish called ‘bloodburst’ which is best described as what a white guitar might look like after it had been used to cull a few seal pups.
I had an extended play on an example of the HM-20V at a trade exhibition in London in the summer of 1986 and was well impressed. Until I lot my job in September of that year I had every intention of buying one to complement the Ibanez Destroyer which was my workhorse axe.
Coming back to the present day, I am torn between this trio of guitars and think a trip to Denmark Street is in order to subject all three to the acid test. However, whichever one I go for I will be buying it from the USA as all of the above can be had for substantially less money (not to mention a hard case and a shorter delivery time) from there than from any UK or European based retailer.

posted by Dom  # 10:25 PM 0 comments links to this post

I hit a bit of a log-jam this weekend while attempting to write up the final draft of Unfinished Business. Part 2: Jenny, as it turned out a little darker than I was happy with and until I can find the words to lighten it I'm going to delay posting the thing.
On a cheerier note, your gracious host has been transformed into an excitable child and is positively a-tremble at the news that Davros, creator of the Daleks, is to make his return to Doctor Who this Saturday - even if it does bugger up plans I had already made to spend the entire day attempting to drink myself to death (on an even more cheery note you might like to check this out, which is something I always find amusing).
I can remember seeing Davros on his first outing in the 1975 series Genesis of The Daleks which I still think is an absolute classic of the SciFi genre - the story being so strong that it more than compensates for the wobbly sets, hammy acting and the bad guy's Nazi knock-off costumes - even if the Nazi motif was quite obviously deliberate.

Dalek creator, Terry Nation, supposedly based the Daleks on the Nazis, and this episode abounds with parallels. A madman leads his own race to its destruction. He is supported by security services that ride roughshod over the military and anybody else that gets in their way. They dress wholly in black, and salute each other by raising their hands and clicking the heels of their boots together. Their bespectacled leader, Nyder, is cold-hearted and ruthless, and even wears an Iron Cross in earlier episodes before the medal later disappears from his costume. Much of the action takes place in "the Bunker".

And while we're on a design tip I get the impression that Davros 2008 (see the above picture), while retaining all the iconic elements of the original, seems to be giving a certain stylistic nod towards Clive Barker.
Discuss.

Update: And wasn't it an awesome episode?

posted by Dom  # 8:46 PM 0 comments links to this post

I've been informed that a 1994 Ibanez IC-350 - a guitar I've lusted after for quite some time now - is up for sale on the German eBay site and this has presented me with a frustrating dilemma; do I get myself in a bidding war for the thing or let it go in favour of the STM-1 (see the last but one post) which is an instrument of far higher quality even if it lacks the pedigree of the Iceman? At the time of writing the bidding has reached 351EUR (that's about £277 in real money) and I have a feeling it will probably exceed the £530 tag on the STM-1 by the time the auction closes this evening.
Decisions, decisions!

Update: It went for £333.35!

posted by Dom  # 1:02 PM 0 comments links to this post

First up it’s the Mystery Jets and their new single Two Doors Down which I absolutely love – even if the keyboard figure on the chorus reminds me of something else that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Secondly it’s Prime Time by The Tubes from way back in 1979 which I also love! Of course back then I had no idea it was about television, I thought it was just some slushy love song! I remember seeing this on TotP and I also remember that there was something about Re Styles (the girl singer, real name Shirley MacLeod) and her mesmerisingly sultry manner that gave me such a stonking knob-on that I didn’t know what to do with it (and I mean that quite literally - as a hopelessly naïve fourteen year old I really didn’t know what to do with it).

posted by Dom  # 5:03 PM 0 comments links to this post

I must, and I mean I simply must, have one of these. The best price I've found so far is £529.99 - so guess who's going to be selling a kidney?

posted by Dom  # 8:09 AM 0 comments links to this post