Come Dance

Since the first of You and Me...

Monroe Inferno

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Through the shining valleys of clouds...

Part 1 of 3

Ted Hughes - Crow

Who is stronger than hope? Death.
Who is stronger than the will? Death.
Stronger than love? Death.
Stronger than life? Death.

But who is stronger than Death?
                             Me, evidently.
Pass, Crow. 

Read by the author, unabridged with introduction and notes between the poems.

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Deus Ex Machina

"Tuesday evening, after tea and compulsory prayers, the last mouse on earth tried to hide from mankind, inside the Machine. Just before it died, the last ever mouse-dropping caused a slight Accident. You may control the progress of this Accident on my behalf, and lead it up the Telepath."

And whatever that means it is the premise of a most unusual (and frankly unplayable) game from the dawn of the home computer age. Several largely static screens pulse and wiggle with digital depictions of DNA, spermatozoa, babies and finally an adult male, as the player ponders what effect their frantic keyboard-jabbing/joystick-wrenching is having on affairs.

Of course, back then I didn't appreciate the GENIUS that is the additional soundtrack tape, meant to be heard in synch with the game.

Featuring the implausibly combined talents of Ian Dury, Jon Pertwee, Donna Bailey, and Frankie Howerd (oo-er!), this 50min electropera comes across as a genetic recombination of Dr Who, The Hitchhiker's Guide and a United States-era Laurie Anderson, and stands as a fully-fledged offspring in its own right.

Chronicling the life of the "Accident" from miraculous conception through a test-tubey version of the Seven Ages of Man to an oddly moving deterioration and final genetic meltdown, it could almost be the long-lost companion to The Dark Side Of The Moon. Almost.

Enjoy this gem of pre-multimedia multimedia! And watch out for The Sperm Song.

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