Rob Lloyd - Who, Me at The Atkinson, Southport 30/06/18

Australian actor, comedian, failed school teacher and David Tennant lookalike Rob Lloyd is a big Doctor Who fan.  

Who, Me takes place in Rob's mind in the form of a trial.  The charge..... the Doctor Who has taken over Rob's life.  If found guilty, all knowledge of Doctor Who will be erased.  With the audience as the jury, the case is laid out my the mysterious "Prosecutor". (Who has a posh English accent like William Hartnell!)

Introduced to Doctor Who at the worse possible time, in the 1990s, Rob found himself a member of a group who were not only ostracised by society, but were also looked down upon by all other communities of geeks! And in small town Australia, this wasn't a good thing.  Then he meets a guy who introduces him to the local Doctor Who club, a secret place where like-minded fans can watch episodes and discuss Who lore, as long as you don't tell anyone else!

A witness for the prosecution is an old friend of Rob's, the guy who introduced him to the show.  Described as "a recovering Whovian" he says  "I got treatment at the Carol Ann Ford clinic and now I'm cured."

The prosecutor even alleges that Rob is not a fully fledged Who obsessive because his focus temporarily switched to Star Wars in 1999!

This one man show show is funny, witty and contains jokes that will appeal to classic series and modern series fans alike.  Noticing some younger audience members, Rob gave a warning that he may drop the occasional F-Bomb, and maybe even the C-Bomb, Cyberman!

This is the second time I have seen this show.  It has been expanded on since I saw it at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013, but the TV show has also come a long way since then.

A definite must see for any fan of any era of Doctor Who.

UK Tour now on.  Go see it!

10/10

Clare Means - My Lovely Sin

About three months ago I discover a singer / songwriter called Clare Means.

I can't remember exactly how I found this beautiful, 29-year-old red head from Los Angeles, but I am so glad I did!

Clare is a profession musician, playing 5 hour sets almost every day on Santa Monica Pier or Santa Monica Boulevard, for tips.  However, the way I discovered (and fell in love with) her was she transmits all her performances on Periscope.  Usual total viewing figures are 4,000 - 6,000 people! However, her epic 7-hour epic the other night probably went viral!  She was trending on Periscope and had a final total of almost 100,200 viewers.

An originals artist, Clare has three albums recorded and is working on a fourth.  The title of this blog post is taken from on of her song titles.  Her songs range from the serious to the silly, with songs like Georgette and Everyone's Room But Mine being on the serious side and Paper Doll and Voodoo Doll being on the quirky side.

Her fans are not only loyal, but a community.  Known as "The Clarebears", they gather on Periscope every evening, not just to watch Clare's performance, but so socialise and interact with each other, as friends who share a common interest do.   The Clarebears are mostly American, however, there are a few like myself who are from Europe.  Unfortunately, the time difference means anyone getting up at 7am UK time will only catch the last two hours of the show, but even if you only watch an hour or two its definitely worth it.

I will be sad when Clare Means is the next big thing and is no longer able to play these internet shows for her followers.  Because it is such a close knit community, Clare considers her fans as friends and I'm happy happy to included in that.

Clare's music is available on iTunes / Apple Music,  Below are links to her Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram accounts and of course her website where you can obtain signed CDs.  She also has a PayPal account for tips!  How very 21st century!

https://www.facebook.com/ClareMeans/

https://twitter.com/ClareMeans

https://www.youtube.com/user/ClareMeans

https://www.instagram.com/claremeans/

https://www.paypal.me/claremeans

http://www.claremeansmusic.com/

Catch her latest performance here.

https://www.periscope.tv/ClareMeans/1BRKjkBrYXeGw

Support new, independent music, make new friends and enjoy amazing original songs.  Become a Clarebear!  Its the best decision you'll make all year!  :-)

Is Star Trek dead?

With more and more science fiction on TV and in film becoming Earth based and/or A.I. based, is the age of space based sci-fi gone?

With the pending release of the next phase of Star Wars and rumours of a Babylon 5 movie reboot you may think the genre is alive and well, but, since the end of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005 there has been a distinct lack of space based sci-fi on TV.  Instead the likes of Eureka, Defiance, Revolution, Extant and other Earth based sci-fi shows have filled the airwaves. 

Is the age of Star Trek dead?

Will space based science fiction be confined to the big screen from now on?

Clara Barker - Indigo

Indigo, the debut album from Manx singer/songwriter Clara Barker, was released on 1st March 2010.

The album contains a variety of styles from slow and melodic Song and Flying to the upbeat and quirky Cowboy Ninja Bear and Space Cadet to the serious Abigail and Indigo.  These styles do not transition one to another, they are spread across the album.  Inklings of pop, folk, indie and rock straddle this album,  tied to a beautifully played guitar.

Fun was obviously had in the making of this album.  Some tracks start with snippets of studio conversations. Writer's Block begins with the words "I've found her.  She's in a bad way.  I'm bringing her in."and Clara tries hard not to completely loose it during 'Cowboy, Ninja, Bear!' as someone makes all kinds of odd noises in the background to try and put her off!

The dark horse of Indigo has to be the penultimate track Sangion.  Starting off as a slow, melodic track heavy guitar and drums kick in and really give this track a lot of weight.

I said at the time of release that Indigo was the best album I'd heard in a long time.  Sadly, not much has changed in four years!  Indigo is still the best thing to happen to my CD collection in a long time.

10/10

Clara Barker - The CyberHippy's Review

Hailing from The Isle Of Man, I first encountered the music of singer/songwriter/guitarist Clara Barker through MySpace Music in 2007.

I found the four or five original songs she had on her profile to be well written and well performed. Although there were an array of styles to the uploaded songs, the quirky " Cowboy Ninja Bear" soon became my favourite and remains so to this day.

Eventually we both made the move to Facebook.

Clara's first album, Indigo, was released on 1st March 2010 and included all the songs that had been on MySpace. Than a rest. Clara went back to her day job and waited to see how the album would sell. After a few months preparations were bring made for a mini-tour of the UK. In January 2011 Clara played a nice, small, music pub in Leicester called The Musician along with upcoming folk singer/guitarist Lucy Ward.

I was a little nervous at first, but after the gig I went and introduced myself (and got her to sign my CD!). It was just so good to finally see her play and meet her after being a fan and communicating online for so long and she felt the same about meeting me and thanked me for coming. I got a photo with her, then I had to go home.

Our friendship continued over Facebook I'd like and comment on stuff she'd post and we'd IM occasionally.

18 months later, on the September 7th 2012 (the day before my birthday!) she was back at The Musician and I was back to see her. She had been busy in this time and as well as the songs from Indigo, there was a new song, Sollami and Sollamr. The tale of two dead lovers sitting on a star, wondering if their paths would cross again in the next life. This tour in 2012 formed the live EP Hard Work and Whisky.

I had seen Clara prior to this gig. I visited The Isle Of Man for the first time in April 2012 and Clara had invited me to go see one of her friends, a guy called Chris T-T, at the Working Men's club in Laxey.

Work had already started on new songs for the next album, but recording it was more of a problem. The solution? Crowdfunding! Clara set up an account to raise money to record and produce the new album. She got almost $2500 or £1800!

Crowndfunding or Crowdsourcing involves asking for donations for small amounts to large amounts and getting gifts back in return. Clara gave away signed copies of Indigo, signed photos, fridge magnets and the EP Hard Work and Whisky. Giving a donation was the only way to get a copy of the exclusive RocketJam EP!

Clara's next gig in Leicester was on May 19th 2013, once again at The Musician, but this time it wasn't her gig! She was, however, supporting two of her idols, Miles and Erica from The Wonderstuff! This did mean a shorter set, so more new songs and less of the old. But still a brilliant set.

Her second album, entitled "Fine Art and the Breslins" is now finished and is due out this coming Sunday (4th May 2014) from Small Bear Records www.smallbearrecords.com Digital Download and physical CD copies will be available. Downloads from other vendors (iTunes, Amazon, etc) coming soon.

Why so long between albums and tours? Recording times and costs aside, Clara Barker is still an aspiring musician and as well as her music holds down a full-time job.

I look forward to hearing the new album and to seeing her play live when she tours again.

Clara Barker - The Interview

Clara (rhymes with Sarah) Barker is a singer/songwriter/guitarist hailing from The Isle Of Man, a small island in the Irish sea between England and Ireland. She was born on 28th June 1977 and her earliest memories of music are bouncing in her high-chair whilst her dad played Elvis Presley and The Kinks records.

Despite this early introduction to music, Clara didn't actually pick up a guitar and learn to play until she was 24! Like all songwriters, she had ideas in her head and decided that playing an instrument was the best was to get them out. Her first song, Space Cadet, came just seven weeks after learning to play!

Her favourite artists and musical influences are far too many to cite, but include Cat Stevens, Simon & Garfunkel, Mumford & Sons and The Wonderstuff.

Clara's first album, Indigo, was recorded over a two and a half year period at Oatsey's Peg Too Studio in Douglas, Isle Of Man. It was produced by "Captain" Phil Reynolds and Clara. Very strange things happened in that studio as several of the songs also include unedited studio conversations and a lot of giggling! Fun was obviously had. Some may called this "unprofessional", I just think it adds to the album and shows that artists and producers are not always as serious as you would think!

Indigo was officially released on 1st March 2010, however, due to supply issues with the CDs and problems communicating with iTunes, the albums actually arrived about three weeks late!

Sadly, as with most first albums, there were a few songs that either didn't fit or would have made the album too long. One of these was called The Bees Song and it just didn't fit what had finally been decided on the sound for Indigo.

Although she is obviously as fan of them all, when asked to pick a favourite off Indigo, Clara responded "I don’t have favourites per se, but the one that never fails to make us smile is Care of Princess. We recorded it as a spare in case we didn't have enough songs to make an album and Cap’n Reynolds threw a couple of drum beats and a phat bassline at her and she took the lot. I vamped out some harmonies, some improvs and a whisper track and we had ourselves a trance mix in no time at all. Just like magic ;)"

Clara's relationship with Phil Reynolds started long before she picked up a guitar. She was 15 and he was the manager of the music shop where here then boyfriend worked. She used to hangout in the back room and drink coffee, she wasn't allowed to touch the guitars back then! Although the relationship with the boyfriend faded long ago, her friendship with Phil Reynolds has lasted the test of time.

You'll notice earlier I referred to Phil Reynolds was "The Captain", this is not a military title, Clara calls him this because they are both big fans for the Joss Whedon sci-fi show Firefly and he just happens to have the same last name as the lead character!

Clara's latest album, Fine Art & The Breslins, is due for release on Star Wars Day 2014 (or May 4th for those who don't know!). This album also took about two and a half years to record and produce. There is nothing left over this time, everything is on the album with no spare tracks. What come next its a mystery, especially to Clara!

The unusual title comes from three of Clara's good friends. Artist Juan "Fine Art" Moore and brother and sister Seven and Sue Breslin. And being the creative type allows you to "borrow" things from wherever you want! ;-)

When asked to pick a favourite song from the new album Clara said "Right now it’s different every day. I’ve just finished the hardcore listenings on different speakers that comes right before sign off. Right now the track that is making me smile the most is Love (Fill My Heart). It’s all bouncy and just so happy in my ears!"

Of course, Clara's fans were not left entirely hanging for two and a half years, she toured in that time, promoting Indigo, and released a live EP entitled "Hard Work And Whisky".

Playstation 4 Part 2 Games: Need For Speen Rivals

Play as Cop or Racer career in this high-speed racing game.

The aim of the game is to increase your rank.  This is done by achieving 3 - 5 objectives on your "Speed List".  Each time you complete a Speed List and return to your Command Post or Hideout to complete the list and bank the Speed Points you earned.

Speed Points can be used to upgrade either you cop or racer car, they are not exclusive though.  Points earned can be spent in either cop or racer mode.  Spending 10000 SP in Racer decreases the SP available to Cop by the same amount.  It is a central pot, rather than building SP for each career.

Maybe because it is a muli-platform game, (PS4, PS3, XBox One, XBox 360 and PC) but the graphics seem to be no improvement over PS3.  I'll have to get the PS3 version and compare.

Virdict:  A good game, but cheaper on other platforms.  7/10