Powergen Bob

 

See here for essential background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2025/03/scary-tv-ad.html.
Some TV adverts are memorable for reasons other than the macabre and sinister. In the early 2000's Powergen ran a series of ads that I have never forgotten and have been searching for online. "Mystic Bob" was loveable middle-aged hippie was played by Simon Day who is best known for his comedy programmes, especially The Fast Show. He also played a hospital porter in Holby City and I'll be saying more about that soon on the HPWA, see links column. Bob is a spiritual New Age preacher who both amuses and bemuses his colleagues as they travel around working in their white van. He has a dog called Gandalf who only appears in one of the ads. His tagline is "positive energy from Powergen". The initial film in the campaign is forty-one seconds long and can be seen here: https://adsspot.me/media/tv-commercials/powergen-bob-energy-saving-plan-c1ba18dbebb6; sorry, but this is the best quality copy I know of. When Powergen earned the sponsorship on ITV's weather reports a series of shorter ones were made. They are on YouTube, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP4kQ819gWQ and: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQlhq0FUSNY and: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgn67I-svzU. The Powergen Bob adverts were so funny and sweet that I used to look forward to the ad breaks in case one of them appeared. They used to cheer me up... Those were in the days when I actually watched television. I identified with that character quite distinctly. I saw myself in him and I still do. Powergen changed its name to E.ON UK when it was acquired by the German energy multinational and then the Bob adverts were dropped in favour of some new far more conventional and boring ones. Apparently I was not the only one to write in and complain about the loss of "Mystic Bob", see: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/adwatch-powergen-mystic-bob/461896. I think they should have given Bob a series or even a movie. TV ads have been adapted into films before, such as Rowan Atkinson's Johnny English trilogy; they were a James Bond spoof based on a long ad campaign by Barclaycard, for example see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4Yn6vPZrGU. Things on TV that make me happy are sometimes found in places as unexpected as those which make me feel scared. The amount of skill and artwork needed to make an impression does exist in the commercial milieu. Is there an equivalent of the Oscars for adverts? If so then I have a nomination for the best horror and the best feel-good comedy.

The World After Amazon

 

I've come across a literary project called The World After Amazon. I found it via Cory Doctorow whose book I recently reviewed, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2024/05/the-masque-of-red-death.html. It brings together thirteen employees or ex-employees of Amazon who have written short stories. In this way they can express themselves in a manner they otherwise never could. Amazon is truly the mega-corporation of mega-corporations. It dominates the retail world like no other organization in history. Like many giant corporate multinationals it often recruits the poorest people it can find and pays them the lowest wages possible. Because of this, I was not surprised to find that all the stories have a futuristic dystopian setting and rather grim themes such as societal collapse, anti-humanism, cyberpunk technocracy and ecocide. As always, futuristic fiction describes the present more than it predicts the actual future. Some of the authors are anonymous, presumably because they might face repercussions at work as a result of their involvement in the project which has an irreverent policy towards Amazon, to say the least. All the entries in the anthology are worth reading, but I think the best by far is Thalia in Albios by Cory Gluck. It is about a young woman called Thalia who lives in a post-apocalyptic city which consists of shanty towns of poverty in which there are little pockets of opulence, gated communities where the wealthy live in seclusion. Thalia works as a maid for one of the rich households and her employer is an older woman called Linda who lives in a mansion with her family. She is a very two-faced person who treats Thalia either with kindness or cruelty dispending on her mood. Sometimes she reprimands Thalia for damages and messes caused by her children that are not Thalia's fault. This story, and some of the others, are very revealing about what it is like to be a low status citizen in a harsh and conformist world; something that really spoke to my heart, being a former hospital porter. (Have I mentioned that before? Maybe once or twice perhaps.) The anthology is available as a free ebook or audio-book, see: https://afteramazon.world. However, you can buy a paperback copy if you prefer. Ironically, this can also be purchased on Amazon.
See here for more background: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2023/12/leave-world-behind-review.html.
And: https://hpanwo-bb.blogspot.com/2024/05/everything-for-everyone-piw-in-fiction.html.
And: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2024/02/doomsday-bunkers.html.

Based Keanu

 

The actor Keanu Reeves has just turned sixty years old. It seems hard to believe and is perhaps another sign that the predicted "reverse quickening" has not yet appeared, see: https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2014/02/programme-78-podcast-2012-redux.html. I remember him well as a young actor in teen flicks like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Parenthood. He did graduate to more mature cinema as he aged and eventually starred in his definitive adult role, Neo in the Matrix series. Now officially elderly, the actor has featured in a short documentary that has astounded me. It reveals a lot of details about his personal life and the history of the Matrix movies that is almost as dramatic as the films themselves. He was born in the Middle East to Canadian parents and when he was three years old they divorced; his father left his life and made no effort to contact him. Keanu only met him again at the age of thirteen. After that, the two hardly ever saw each other again. Sadly the tragedies of his life did not end there. His only child was stillborn at eight months and shortly afterwards his wife was killed in a car crash. Emotional pain on that scale might be why he became a very shy eccentric person. Unlike many Hollywood stars he does not live the playboy lifestyle and instead spends most of his time working for charities and collecting motorcycles. However, he has done a few interviews where he talks candidly about his observations on life, and this includes the profound mystical ideas at the heart of the Wachowskis' famous franchise. The documentary explains, partly through Keanu's testimony that the films were a labour of love for both the creators and himself, but they were also a monumental struggle; and this reveals a lot to me. I always sensed there was something missing from them; not so much in the original, but definitely with the first two sequels. (I have not seen Resurrections, the most recent.) It turns out that the project was almost cancelled. Keanu and the rest of the cast and crew donated funds to keep it going and they were locked in a constant battle with the studio over content. The cast and Wachowskis wanted to centre the story on its renowned spiritual themes, but the studio wanted an action movie. This would explain why the first two sequels feel so watered down. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJbjkw-jwgA.

There is no doubt that Keanu Reeves is what is commonly known as based. This is probably both a cause and effect of his Neo role. Even before The Matrix, however, he showed symptoms of outside-the-box thinking. As long ago as 1993 he took on the eponymous role in Bernado Bertolucci's fabulous Little Buddha. This was criticized as bad casting, but I think Reeves plays the part with extraordinary gusto and charisma. You can see he is genuinely interested in the life and ideas of Prince Siddhartha. (The director's cut is currently on YouTube; the age of this upload suggests it is authorized, hence I don't mind sharing it, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UR1C_Z8swU.) As for the Wachowskis, their subsequent film Cloud Atlas, which I also adore, allowed them to express many of the ideas that they wanted to put into The Matrix, but were forbidden from doing so, see: https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2013/07/cloud-atlas.html. Keanu has also appeared in one scene on Ancient Apocalypse, Graham Hancock's latest series, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzh7r9MKTew. He has futhermore written a book, co-authored by a writer I'm very familiar with, China Miéville, see: https://hpanwo-bb.blogspot.com/2023/12/piw-in-fiction.html and: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-city-and-city-by-china-mieville.html. This is another sign that he is both intelligent and radical in his mentality. Keanu Reeves sits forever in my childhood memory as this scruffy haired teenager breathlessly delivering lines in Californian surfer slang, but this just goes to show you should never underestimate anybody. The most conformist and mundane exterior can sometimes conceal the beating heart of a true maverick and prophet.

Tesco Butlerian Jihad Update

 

See here for essential background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2024/03/tesco-butlerian-jihad-continues.html.
The Tesco Butlerian Jihad has reached a crucial turning point and I'm pleased to say humanity has won a significant triumph over the machines. I went to the same branch of Tesco and this time the four human tills were all unmanned. People were sadly trooping obediently into the auto-checkouts so I decided to set a good example. I parked my trolley in front of the human tills and waited. Good job I never chose a basket. After a while a few people joined me and a queue of about five shoppers began to form. I eventually managed to wave to one of the assistants in the auto area. I didn't make a big deal and I never put on an irritated tone. It would be tempting to Karen out at that point, but I kept my cool. I just asked her politely: "Could somebody come and open one of these tills please." She acknowledged me and walked off. I wondered if she had understood me, unlike two of her colleagues in the past, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2023/04/whose-street-my-street.html. No, this time somebody appeared within two minutes, a cheerful old lady. She took her place behind the cash register and invited us to come and pay. She was very nice and friendly. "You want to pay with cash, do you?" she asked rhetorically. I asked: "Where are Beverley and Lemoncini?" These are the two staff members who most often man the cash tills. She told me they were away that day. I asked this question primarily because I wanted to make the point that because I am a cashie who refuses to use the computer checkouts I actually talk to the people who serve me, and I've have even learned their names and have conversations with them. Just for five minutes or so every visit, but it's still enough to develop a basic relationship. This is what the auto-till sheeple are missing out on. They're turning their back on human interaction to save a few minutes before they rush back to their pod or work cublicle. I thanked the old lady who served me and told her that I would always refuse to use the AI card machines. I hope the message is passed along that Tesco should always keep somebody on one of the manned checkouts. So I went in, bought my groceries and left without once dealing with anybody other than a human being. So the machines lose! I don't care how many seconds you give me to comply.
See here for background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2023/12/auto-checkouts-are-off.html.
And: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2025/01/tales-from-cashless-island.html.

If You Can't Beat 'em Ban 'em!

 

Breaking news! France has just done the unthinkable, yet inevitable. It has made a political prisoner out one of its most senior and longest sitting statespeople. No, this is not an April fool joke. Marine Le Pen, many times presidential candidate and leader of the biggest party in the French parliament, has been convicted of embezzlement of EU funds which for politicians is a bit like slapping somebody with a speeding fine at the French Grand Prix. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0ylgjew1xo. Like Boris Johnson, her prosecution was selective and has an underlying political motive, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2022/07/why-did-boris-fail.html. The same goes for Donald Trump, see: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2023/04/trump-in-court-livestream.html. I predicted this would happen after the elections last year. It left the country with a terrible political crisis and I said back then that they would put it on hold until the Paris Olympics were over; and then all hell would break loose, and it did, see: https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2024/12/third-rail-radio-programme-194.html. Where they failed with Trump they have succeeded with Le Pen. She has been sentenced to four years in prison with two suspended. So far she has not yet been locked up, pending an appeal; but she is banned from standing in elections for public office for five years, and that is probably the objective of the prosecution. What will happen now? Ironically, like with Trump, her martyrdom will probably add to her popularity. At the same time we must remember that France is a very different kind of political society to Britain. The French do not stop for tea and play games of cricket; they have revolutions instead. France is naturally a very unstable nation. In the background links I describe other aspects that might give clues to what the next outcome might be once the dust settles from this bombshell. Time will tell how this crisis will develop.
See here for background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2022/04/french-election-2022-first-round.html.
And: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2021/05/a-warning-from-france_25.html.

Ben Emlyn-Jones on Fockham Hall Radio 16

 

See here for the programme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vlLFqhpsZI.
I have been featured again on Fockham Hall Radio. Topics discussed include, an Austrian artist in Argentina, portholes to wormholes, Beltane rituals and much much more.
See here for my previous interview on FHR: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2024/11/ben-emlyn-jones-on-fockham-hall-radio-15.html.

Malaysia has NOT Signed!

 

See here for essential background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2025/03/malaysia-signs.html.
I must make an urgent correction to the background article posted above. It turns out that rumours of Malaysia signing the contract with Ocean Infinity were greatly exaggerated. How this mix-up happened I cannot imagine. How was it the families group got told the news with such certainty, on headed paper etc? To be honest, I felt a niggling doubt from the start. The fact that it was not done with a public ceremony and that OI would not confirm it was a bit dodgy. The new latest release also does not refer to a time limit for the search period. It could be that the families simply misunderstood an older press release. I don't know why there is so much confusion following Malaysia's originally very positive stance on OI's project. They were quite happy with OI's proposal for an eighteen month period in which the company would be paid £70 million IF the search yielded significant new forensic evidence, ie wreckage from MH370. Oliver Plunkett, the CEO of Ocean Infinity describes MH370 as "unfinished business" and clearly feels very passionate about it on a personal level. He has put in a lot of emotional commitment to this search. Last night Armada 7806 ended the bathymetric survey of the Blelly-Marchand hotspot. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RssJOP0pbro.

At the same time this update broke, Armada 7806 turned north and began steaming with all dispatch. At first the ship tracker followers thought she might be heading for a new search area, but then her destination statement changed to Singapore, which is the ship's home port. She had enough fuel and victuals for a further six days of operations, so the search team ended it early. The fact that the ship is heading for Singapore and not Fremantle is a bad sign. It indicates that their mission has been aborted. We don't know why this has happened or what the future plans are because neither OI nor Malaysia has made any further statements. We'll have to wait and see; but really if nothing is done in the next couple weeks then it looks like a total cancellation of the search for MH370. By late April or early May the weather in that part of the Indian Ocean tends to get very bad so making searches impossible. It won't improve again until November. Jeff Wise thinks that Armada 7806 is too small for the task anyway, and it lacks the range and facility for mass AUV deployment. I can't help wondering if deep down a lot of people in control of this situation are well aware that the plane really is not at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. There's clearly a lot of conflict between Jeff and the remainder of the Independent Group. I know Jeff does not believe in WSPR, but the issue goes beyond that and gets quite personal. He implies that Richard Godfrey is some kind of shill. Jeff suspects Godfrey has committed stolen valour related to his past qualifications in the space programme. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHZOn0xF858. I don't know once way or the other, but I am well aware that, generally speaking, when two people in the Conspirasphere fall out they will usually accuse each other of being a government patsy. One thing Jeff has confirmed as true is that Richard Godfrey did work for Marconi is the early 1970's. Luckily he had left by the time the infamous suicide epidemic broke out, see here for details: https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2022/04/programme-460-falklands-war-40_14.html and: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2022/06/falklands-war-40th-anniversary.html. This may not be the end of the story. Ocean Infinity may choose to return in the southern spring and continue the operation from where they left off; but that is months away, and all this political toing and froing must be terribly frustrating and upsetting for the MH370 families.
See here for background: https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2024/05/mh370-portal.html.