"From" - TV series (2022)

 

From time to time I wrote here about the TV shows I was enjoying (or not). There were some really good programmes recently that caught my attention, including "Silo", "Foundation" and "Pluribus" to name just a few, however they all have in common a fact that they were not overlong and were cleverly designed to keep the viewer's attention. That is how I got tricked into watching "From" on a friend's suggestion, not really knowing anything about it except that people who created "Lost" are behind it. Now, I am not even sure is that good recommendation or not, since after two seasons "Lost" eventually slid into a nonsense and was way too difficult for me to follow. But, hey, the premise looked good, the trailer was fine, so here I go, like a sucker, thinking oh well it must be good. Just to be reminded by my other half that I usually dislike TV shows that go on forever and should probably sign a contract to oblige me to watch it completely. 

A very exciting trailer and first few episodes of "From" set a tone of a horror/mystery story that was initially thrilling to watch: Matthews family arrives in some strange little town in the middle of nowhere and can't find their way out. There is a tree on the road blocking their way and no matter where they drive, they always end up at the same place, with resigned locals accepting this is their destiny, since everybody here got stuck the same way. Every single person here was driving elsewhere and got a tree blocking the road, just to find themselves back to the little town again and again. On top of all this, everybody must be indoors after sundown, because there are some shape-shifting monsters (pretending to be human) attacking and killing them. 

The cast is excellent - there is Harold Perrineau as sheriff Boyd, Ricky He as his deputy Kenny, Shaun Majumder as a local priest, Chloe Van Landschoot  as the only doctor/nurse, Avery Konrad as a young Sara who hears the voices (telling her to kill people) and Scott McCord as a creepy Victor who is here the longest and seems never grew up from his traumatic childhood. My favourite is Elizabeth Saunders as a straight-talking, no-nonsense leader of Colony House as the town is divided into two groups of survivors. While some people prefer to live in their own, heavily protected houses, others decide to live in a kind of hippie commune called Colony House. What is safer or better, depends on your point of view. My least favourite characters are actually Matthews family themselves, who are I guess meant to be everyday ordinary family but feel extremely annoying to me and I'm glad my family was never like this. We are supposed to sympathise with them but during all this danger and mayhem they mostly whine and behave in this touchy-feely way that I had never encountered in real life. Example: Jim and his wife Tabitha have argument about why he never opens and expresses his emotions instead of pretending that he is strong. Two minutes later he breaks down and cries a river, while his wife (who was crying in a previous scene) is now supporting him. And don't let me even start about spoiled and privileged kids who are constantly pampered to the point of growing into self-centred narcissists (ok, maybe the little kid less than his teenage sister who is insufferable). 

The first season had only 10 episodes, which seems like a reasonable length to me but alas, dear reader, the curse of "Lost" now started to repeat itself: in attempt to keep the audience glued to the screen, script writers keep on piling mystery on top of mystery without really explaining anything or coming to any conclusion. A little bit like Scheherazade who was weaving "One Thousand and One Nights" without end in sight. At the end of the first season, we are left without a single explanation why are these people stuck, who are the night monsters, why is this happening at all, etc, etc. The first season actually ends with the arrival of bus full of new characters who will (I expect) now will be either new victims or new elements of the plot. There might be some people who enjoy this and love guessing what is happening and what will happen - however, I have seen this already in "Lost" and it didn't work out so well, in fact I deserted that show after a while, finding it confusing and manipulative. Like the script writers think of themselves too clever to actually bother with any conclusions, dropping hints and suggestions all the time without any explanations. So here I am, halfway trough the season two and already frustrated because the series just going on and on without any logical explanation. I guess we will eventually find out they are all dead and this is purgatory. That should teach me not to be a sucker and accept every good trailer. 

"Svjetla Pozornice" (Stage Lights) documentary 2025

Someone sent me this wonderful documentary and I watched it with the greatest pleasure. It is not often that I have opportunity to watch the latest TV programmes from my homeland, neither I was even searching for them, but this one sounded so interesting that I could not resist. "Svjetla Pozornice" ("Stage Lights") is a seven-episode documentary series chronicling the evolution of Croatian popular culture from 1950 to the present day. Each episode combines documentary footage, archival materials, and vibrant TV studio performances with interviews, offering an engaging portrayal of Croatia’s cultural history. The show is hosted by Željka Ogresta and Dubravko Merlić, who talk to expert interlocutors in the studio and present musical and dance performances related to themes from particular periods.

Since I don't live there anymore, I can only sense the feeling of uneasiness to talk, discuss or even mention the period from 1945-1991 when Croatia was still part of Yugoslavia - to my knowledge this is the very first TV programme that talks about pop culture trough these times and I must say that I was very impressed with seriousness, professionalism and objectivity both Ogresta and her husband  presented here. They weaved a very interesting story, explaining how the homegrown popular culture in Croatia changed and metamorphosed trough the decades - Film, Radio, TV, popular music, sport, etc - it was all mentioned here and I enjoyed it so much that I could watch it all over again. Naturally, I enjoyed the episodes about 1970s and 1980s the most, since this is a time period I can remember myself. The episode about 1990s was as expected somber because this was a war time, however I still need to see the very last episode that deals with a new millennium. Excellent!

Documentary: "Enigma" by Zackary Drucker (2025)

Now this was something I watched with such a pleasure that I might even re-watch it again.

It is a story about two very famous transgender people who might have started together but drifted apart later in life, living completely different lives and following their own paths. It was directed by Zackary Drucker who is transgender herself and can be seen in the movie. 

The documentary contrasts lives of April Ashley and Amanda Lear and mainly uses archival interviews and excerpts from Ashley's own memoirs as a testament of how the life back in the 1950s and 1960s was: we are talking about the times when crossdressing was punished by law (but strangely enough, allowed as a part of the stage act) so small wonder many crossdressers gravitated towards famous and notorious Paris nightclub "Le Carrousel de Paris" where many of them found employment as a glamorous performers. The part of documentary that deals with "Le Carrousel" is genuinely the highlight of the movie and I would not be surprised if the club eventually get its own documentary because its really astonishing that in conservative post-WW2 Europe such a place existed, even if French love to think of themselves as free-spirited, but according to surviving performers, it was also a very, very buttoned-up place. Jet set would arrive to be entertained by sensationally attractive boys who posed as Hollywood glamour beauties: the illusion was cemented by actual surgeries some of them got in Morocco.

April Ashley died in 2021 so the movie uses her old interviews to confirm her perspective: he was a beautiful boy who did not fit in his Liverpool surroundings and was in fact, often beaten, harassed and bullied there. No wonder he fitted perfectly in "Le Carrousel" where everybody enjoyed the camaraderie, even though there was obvious competition and jealousy - they all shared backstage life and supported each other against the prejudicial outside world. Ashley was actually fairly successful until sex operation, when she decided to start a completely new life in UK as a photo model - quickly outed by salacious tabloids and destroyed in a court after a highly publicised divorce from a Baron Corbett (who claimed he was deliberately deceived). The scandal destroyed Ashley's professional and personal life and she had never recovered from it, though much later in life when social atmosphere changed, she eventually got some moral satisfaction from being recognised as transgender equality - but this was after decades of  criticism and media assaults. 

While Ashley and her contemporaries from "Le Carrousel" all claim that there was a young pretty boy (who also painted) working with them and who eventually also did sex operation - consequently starting a new life and rejecting old contacts - Amanda Lear absolutely refuses to admit anything about it and claims her own story. Now in her eighties, Lear is a true diva, living grand life and comes across as confident, entertaining, witty and totally in control of her life. Director Zackary Drucker tries all the tricks to corral her into admitting trans past but Lear is too clever to get caught - even when pictures of "Le Carrousel" are pushed in her face, Lear won't budge and to be honest, Drucker comes across as nuisance - simultaneously flattering Lear and claiming she was the biggest trans celebrity ever, the northern light, etc but watching like a hawk for any sign of capitulation. There is a fleeting moment when we see something going on inside Lear's mind - but more I think about it, more I am prone to understand it was probably sad realisation that after a lifetime of fencing off questions about her gender, she was fooled into expecting genuinely respectful interview which turned into just another same old scandal digging expose. 

At the end, it is a curious look at two lives that had completely different path. For all her late-life awards, Ashley is a tragic life because she was constantly haunted by tabloids. Lear used her notoriety to create intriguing stage image and became successful disco star with cult following across the world - journalists might have been annoying and repetitive but she knew how to deal with them. Director Zackary Drucker might say whatever she wants ("oh, I love Lear, she was always my idol") but the movie focuses heavily on unmasking Lear and eventually it became really distasteful - at this point, Lear is retired eighty year old who deserves to live her life as she pleases, there is absolutely no need to dig & unearth anything if she is happy to live whatever life she created for herself. She does not need to apologise or explain herself to anybody. 

TV: "Foundation" (2021)

 

In previous post, I have mentioned how I dislike TV series that go on forever. This is the main reason why i am reluctant to commit to something massive. However, after enjoying "Silo" on Apple TV, the curiosity inspired me to check out SF series "Foundation" based on the novels by Isaac Asimov. I have never read the books, because there are simply too many of them and it felt like a rabbit hole - the only title I have ever read by him was 1990 "Nemesis" which was not bad, so I had some idea that I might liked it. Liked? Binged for two seasons breathlessly and loved every minute of it, though must admit dear reader, sometimes the plot was so complex and convoluted that I had to watch recaps on youtube to understand what have I just seen.

This Apple TV version of "Foundation" is hugely ambitious, majestic and cinematic - like "Silo", it has only slight connection with the novels that inspired it (probably just a few names and not much else) but everybody comments that TV series are work on its own and rolls on nicely without taking much notice to the books. First of all, I must compliment the way it looks - its simply fantastic and full of details about different worlds, planets, architecture, clothes, etc. Sometimes it looks so huge that it would be easy to imagine watching this in the cinema. And the story itself is deep, serious and complicated - this is not for somebody with short attention span, you must focus on several different storylines that happens simultaneously (or even in various centuries) while one of the main story includes a complex mathematic theory - no wonder I had to re-watch recaps. 

The story is naturally, set in the future where galaxy is ruled by trio of genetic clones: brother Day, Emperor Cleon and brother Dusk - somehow they are all the same person, cloned from the original Emperor Cleon who set the plan to extend his rule beyond the grave. So they sit on the three thrones and rule the galaxy, continuously changing places - when Dusk retires, Cleon will move to his place, etc. They are always supported by ageless Lady Demerzel who is kind of omnipotent governess to all of them (and later we learn, the last of humanoid robots, programmed to serve the empire, no matter what costs). There is also a famous mathematician and professor Hari Seldon whose mathematic theory predicts that in the future will fall and wants to start a new foundation to preserve the knowledge of humanity. So the whole plot is happening on the several different places: we are following the complications around Emperor, the building of foundation on a lonely and faraway planet Terminus and adventures of Seldon's helpers Gaal Dornick and her daughter Salvor Hardin - its all terribly complicated and difficult to explain but I plowed trough two seasons with the greatest pleasure and only at the very last episode i felt something like a twitch of saturation - like my brain is telling me that 20 one hour episodes was enough and now I need some rest. Even though the second season had ended with some deaths of important main characters, at this point we are familiar with the idea that nobody is really dead and there is always some way to bring them back to life, so I would not worry too much about it + Emperor and his brothers are cloned anyway, so even if they die, there is always another clone stored away nicely in some jars in the basements, and ready to be uncorked & set in motion. I am actually so hugely impressed with this series that i even started considering checking out the original novels. 

TV: "The Decameron" and "Zero Day"

I am very reluctant to approach TV series, because knowing there are 365 episodes and 7 seasons always feel like a task and most of the time these series visibly loose the steam after a while. However, from time to time I accept an exception, specially if its something like mini-series with limited amount of episodes, at least than I know it will not go forever and I can deal with 7-8 episodes.

The medieval romp "The Decameron" was surprisingly delightful, though it has almost nothing to do with 14th century novel that inspired it - the original by Giovanni Boccaccio was something like a medieval "One Thousand and One Nights" set in plague-ravaged Italy, but instead of stories told by Scheherazade, Boccaccio uses a group of young aristocrats entertaining each other with the stories while isolating from plague in a luxurious countryside villa. In this TV version, there IS a villa whose owner invited some wealthy guests to hide from the plague, but what his guests don't know is that the owner of the house had already died from plague and his servants are just keeping appearances and pretending that he is somewhere on a trip to Venice. The show focuses on the wealthy guests and their interconnections with each other - once they found out the owner is dead, they manipulate and fight each other in order to get their hands on a villa. 

There are many excellent and entertaining characters:

Pampinea (Zosia Mamet) spoiled and arrogant wealthy lady who came to marry the owner of the villa. Once she discovers he is actually dead, she pretends they have quickly been married and in fact she claims to be pregnant in order to inherit the villa.

Misia (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) her loony servant who always fights to protect her mistress and dares anybody to disobey her orders

Tindaro (Douggie McMeekin) another obnoxious nobleman who is totally narcissist and self-absorbed, mostly tolerated because of his wealth and always demanding attention with his hypochondria .

Dioneo (Amar Chadha-Patel) his personal doctor who in reality is nothing but a charlatan and manipulating Tindaro in the background.

Panfilo (Karan Gill) young aristocrat who arrives with his wife, social-climbing and secretly twisting everything in order to get his hands on a villa

Neifile (Lou Gala) his extremely religious wife who has vowed to chastity and later eyeing every man around, as she regrets her promises. 

Filomena (Jessica Plummer) selfish young aristocrat who leaves her sick father alone at home, so she can visit the villa and catch a wealthy husband

Licisca (Tanya Reynolds) her servant who - in a comical twist - exchanges place with Filomena and now pretends to be wealthy lady and real Filomena her servant

Stratilia (Leila Farzad) the villa's cook and mother of a boy who is son of villa's owner, therefore the real owner of the villa

Sirisco (Tony Hale) the main servant of the villa, who buried his master and is pretending that everything is still in order

"Zero Day" had only six episodes and cast to day for: Robert De Niro (in his first ever TV series), Angela Bassett and Lizzy Caplan lead the star-studded show about the retired US president who is investigating a cyberattack. It's all extremely convoluted and complicated, with nods to a very current political atmosphere and squabbling inside the government itself. While people on social media are busy arguing amongst themselves about pronouns and such, real trouble is brewing in the background where heavy hitters are intriguing and planning a coup. It's all very interesting and gripping up to a certain point - there is a very fascinating idea about someone using cyber-weapon from a distance on president's brain - perhaps some wavelength? - which potentially makes him distracted and vulnerable. Unfortunately the show goes on and on without ever resolving this potential weapon and settles on suggesting it was simply stress that De Niro suffered and therefore it was all (literary) just in his head. So after 6 one-hour episodes it all ends up pretty bland and pointless, almost a waste of all this spectacular talent.

"Silo" - TV series and the book

For a while now I am really enjoying TV series "Silo" based on the Silo trilogy of novels (Wool, Shift, and Dust) by author Hugh Howey. Since I was not familiar with the novels, this was all new for me and must admit the series are very gripping. At least the first season - the second season started to feel stretched and not really necessary, as the episodes unfortunately felt bloated. But OK, at least the start was sensational and fresh, so I recommend it even though producers later obviously wanted to extend the story forever and ever and beyond. What is interesting is that the series are based on the book but uses the literary plot only as a frame - many more characters are added to TV show and script writers really went out of their way to make it a little bit different. In a way, it reminds me on "Game of Thrones" that was also based on the best selling novels, hopefully it won't end up the same way - at least this books are finished and there is an end to it. (I enjoyed "Game of Thrones" but not enthusiastic anymore about the unfinished volume, whenever it comes). 

So far TV show has two seasons. Which cover first part of the "Silo" novels, titled "Wool". A peace of wool is what you get, if you ever dare to say it loud that you want to get out of Silo, where thousands of people live underground in fear of some kind of apocalypse outside - with this peace of wool you have to clean the security camera showing the empty world above, destroyed by radiation and supposedly nuclear wars. The premise is that thousands who live in Silo don't even remember what actually happened hundreds of years ago and any memory of the previous world is strictly forbidden - so called "relics" are collected and destroyed. Everybody lives separated on  144 floors and a spiralling staircase runs down the center - almost as in a hierarchy, professions are divided by their importance and while headquarters are on top, lower levels are reserved for mechanics and such. The equilibrium is destroyed once the inhabitants start questioning what is truth, what is reality and is it actually really so dangerous outside. The series are genuinely exciting and since the second season is ending this weekend, I could not resist to check out the book. 

Now I must mention that youtube is full of video clips where people comment and guess what will happen in the next episode - its a bit strange, as there are actual novels on which the show is based, so basically all you have to do is to read the damn book, but there is a difference between the TV show and the books so I guess people simply enjoy not knowing. Or they hate reading so much and rather sit for hours on youtube and elaborate on their theories, instead of taking a book and finding it all out.

I don't hate reading, in fact I love it. So I took the first novel titled "Wool" and just like "Game of Thrones" it felt at the same time familiar and different - in both cases novels and TV series compliment each other, while much more characterisation was given in the books. One thing I can immediately say is that reading the novel feels exciting but I am not constantly creeped out and scared like while watching the series - there is something about the foreboding atmosphere and darkness on TV that freaks me out, while reading don't feel as disturbing. There is much, much more in the novels of course and I intend to finish the novel before the last episode comes on this weekend. Two more volumes to go, might give it a try. 

"The Girl in the Mirror" by Sergio G. Sánchez (2022)

A perfect example of the TV series that start very good and than along the way completely loses the plot and you find yourself wondering how did you ever came to this point, "The Girl in the Mirror" (or as in original Spanish "Alma") is a supernatural thriller series that grabs you from the first episode but later sucks out all the energy from the script and from the audience. It is a pity since it could have been much, much better if only Sergio G. Sánchez (its director and screenwriter) kept a better focus on whats important, instead of stretching the story across 9 episodes to the point that we are all exhausted and can't wait for the darn thing to finish. 

The story itself is quite interesting: after a horrible bus crash where almost all of her classmates die, Alma wakes up in a hospital with total amnesia and only trough the patience and support of her parents and close friends, tries to remember what actually happened that particular day. Even while she is in hospital, Alma is aware of a disturbing ghostly presence that no one else can see except herself. 

Now, the beginning is actually genuinely good - there is a strong story that has to do something with immortal ghosts & demons that are trying to posses the human form. We are told bits and pieces about it at the introduction of each episode. And we as the audience are also aware there are some demons involved in a bus crash and this all has to be somehow connected. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on this, Sánchez gets really distracted with personal drama of each supporting character and before you know it, suddenly you find yourself in the middle of some teenage drama with kids agonising about their trivial issues - it makes you want to scream "wait! what about the demons?"  but sadly it is what it is - a teenage drama pretending to be something else, a supernatural thriller. 

After 9 episodes (each of them feeling longer than the previous one) you come to the end of the season and - voilà! - you realise that nothing is explained, the main story about the demons was lost somewhere along the way and we are hurling towards the second season. Which feels like a cheat, since you invested so much time and effort to follow everything to this point. In a way, very similar to Spanish supernatural series "30 Coins" ("30 monedas") that also started good and went on too long, until I decided not to continue with second season. The best thing about it is a stunning location of Asturia in the Northern Spain that actually looks sensational. 

The Eurovision 2024 Epiphany: I am too old for this

 

I watched Eurovision last night and a thought hit me like a brick: I am too old for this.

Now, coming from someone who actually grew up with Eurovision (as mention here already, my very first LP was compilation of all the winners 1956-1981) and was genuinely enjoying re-watching old Eurovisions on youtube, it did not came as a surprise that technical wizardry eclipses music itself. From year to year, show was getting more spectacular and inevitably it attracted artists who counted on some gimmick to stay relevant or to stand out in the crowd. Even last year, I noticed that Eurovision now favours live performances that have dazzlement of most creative video clips. gone are the days when singer would come and sing to a microphone, the focus is now on projected images that create illusion of waves, volcanoes, asteroids and whatnot all around the performer (including the floor) and in all this spectacle, somehow the music itself is pushed in the background.

What I am experiencing now have been experienced by countless generations before me but this is the first time I am feeling it so openly and can't avoid it: I am now a part of the older generation and this new world makes less and less sense to me. In order to put my thoughts in order, I will try to list them here:

1. There is a whole new world of new young people out there, with their code of speech, communication, moral values, fashions and perspective that personally I find childish and immature. This is because it has almost no connection with my generation and I see that I am turning into grumpy old man - the same very probably happened to those who came before me.

2.I gave it the best shot but I don't see any appeal to this music. Yes, the whole concept of Eurovision covering thirty-seven completely different countries means it will inevitably bring variety but since the focus was on the spectacle, most of this won't work without visuals. At certain points while watching another girl wriggling on the floor and waving her long, ironed hair (its alarming how many of them look exactly the same) I couldn't help but think "how would this music work on the radio?". Huge majority of it sounded derivative to my ears, there was hardly anything original here. Even the stuff I liked (Sweden) was ok simply because it sounded familiar. 

3. For the first time ever, I noticed that artists were performing for the TV cameras and not for the audience. In fact, some of them toyed with I-phone kind of camera, like they are posting it all live on Tik Tok. This made all this audience in Malmö a bit more like a background and I seriously expect in the future the live audience might be eventually completely eliminated and replaced with some virtual avatars.

4. Even though Eurovision was always a LGBT magnet, this was the first time that I questioned how appropriate this is for the family entertainment. Performances by United Kingdom and Ireland for example, are not something I would like to watch together with toddlers (or even grandparents), they combined shock value with extreme quasi-pornographic choreography and I found it distasteful, misplaced and misguided. For some time now, Eurovision artists were trying to appear weird (creative?) but this year was THE year of weirdos. 

5. All the girls looked the same and most of the guys were either flamboyant or comedic. Scratch under the surface and suddenly the list of quasi-witchcraft and circus clowns becomes tiresome. One could almost BET that the next female performer will wriggle on the floor, etc

6. One performance that I almost enjoyed was France because at least it had some resemblance to the melody and the singer actually had a beautiful, powerful voice. The fact that Netherlands was disqualified and sent packing home seems quite bizarre, more like Eurovision showing off what can they do, to me this was more like future warning to other contestants. Seems that Croatia had a huge support, both at home and in Malmö, but nothing about this seemed particularly original to me, if I heard this on the radio, I would assume it was some Bon Jovi tribute band. Still, why would (relatively) manly Croatia win if there is a effeminate guy dressed in a pink dress, so award went to Switzerland - I watched is performance with amazement because it was acrobatic in every sense, but did I remember the melody? No 

p.s

I am actually glad that Abba declined to perform. The chance is perhaps missed but this gives them integrity.

"Baby Raindeer" by Richard Gadd (2024)

 

I don't often write here about what I watched on TV because the sheer cornucopia of streaming platforms makes all these movies kind of disposable products of the moment. Usually I watch TV only on weekends, anyway. But this past weekend there was something that instantly got my attention and I must admit that I could not stop watching it, in a current language, I binged on it. 

"Baby Raindeer" is one of the best British (Scottish?) TV series I have ever seen and this is coming from a fairly legendary tradition, one never expects anything but the best from them. What makes it so special is not only the fact that its a true story but also how it manipulates audience into a total obsession and honestly it is so intense that its practically impossible to stop watching it. As already noted elsewhere, it is a story about struggling comedian (Richard Gadd playing himself) who works as a barman and his stalker, a psychotic woman who introduces herself as a successful lawyer but we know immediately she is a liar - her name is Martha (excellent Jessica Gunning) and since the moment she got a free cup of tea from him, she is starting to push herself into his life, eventually with disastrous consequences. There is also a whole assortment of supporting characters who are here basically like a Greek chorus just to frame the main mind games between the main character and Martha. Where usual stalking stories often focus on black & white characterisation (bad stalker, innocent victim) what happens here is something much more complicated: Richard Gadd ("Donny") is himself guilty of everything that happens to him, because he allows and even encourages it. In a perverted way, he enjoys Martha's attention and even though is clear he has absolutely no romantic interest in her, he also misses her deranged messages and attention - the whole twisted story between them eventually gets almost painful to watch. 

I don't remember when was the last time I was so involved in TV series - it was original, unusual and it played with our sympathy. I was initially with Donny but with time his behaviour became so annoying that I started arguing with the screen - whatever happens to him, he created it himself. It might be different to see it in a hindsight but really, there were literary dozen of situations where the alarm bell was ringing in my head and Donny chose to ignore it, because it suited him. Media is now full of interviews with Gadd and commenting on his bravery to go trough all of this again with acting but I must say that I eventually sympathise much more with deranged Martha than with him. 

Excellent, highly recommended. 

Flashback nr.1: "The Muppet Show Album" (1977)

 

My generation - as the countless generations before - lived almost our entire lives with buying, collecting and treasuring albums as certain ritual. In the long-gone, pre-digital days you would hear something on the radio than walk to a shop to purchase a specific piece of music you liked - the format didn't matter, this was all down to the specific time you happened to be, it could have been a vinyl, a cassette tape or CD. I even remember an occasional encounter with reel-to-reel tape that worked very much like a bigger relative of the smaller cassette and needed a clumsy big recorder. We collected, treasured and loved our collections - just like books, it was who you were, reflection of your interests, tastes and perspectives. I have managed to built, lose and re-built several collections of my favourite music trough the years, but recently I started to really focus on music that was around when I first started discovering it, looking out for what was there when I was still very young and impressionable brings back the memories and sometimes even the excitement that was there.

Digital music online changed everything - the fact that almost everything that was ever recorded is now available on the top of our fingers makes music listening almost a daunting task. Along with some old favourites and whatever Spotify recommends to you, there is always a mountain of new releases and re-mixes of known recordings. Even a voracious music omnivore as I am gets tired and confused sometimes so its no wonder that recently I started to research what exactly were my very first recordings, what was the music that left a deep impression on a little me. When I didn't know anything about the charts, producers, the industry, advertising, controversies, etc - I listened, glued to the speakers and often the very same LP played day after day, as kids do. 

One of these LPs was beautiful, sunny, funny and poignant "The Muppet Show Album" released in 1977 as companion to a famous TV show. Unlike many other popular albums that waited years to be released behind the Iron Curtain, this beauty was released by Belgrade's PGP RTB the very next year and kids like me were treated with simultaneous double treat of having The Muppets both on TV and on the gatefold sleeve album. With a distance of more than four decades, today I have re-discovered this album on youtube - it was never officially released on either CD or digitally, probably because of some copyright issues - I listened the whole thing with greatest joy and delight, to find not only that music was indeed marvellous, imaginative and even better than I remember, but also that somehow every note here is carved in my DNA - even though I was too young to understand English lyrics completely, I remember almost everything of it. I chuckled when I heard wonderfully zany version of "Mississippi Mud", sung along with "Mahna Mahna", "Mr. Bassman" and "Lydia the Tattooed Lady"  ("Lydia, oh! Lydia, that "Encyclopedia") and cried when I heard "Halfway Down the Stairs".

"Halfway Down the Stairs" is a genuine beauty - placed as a little breather between two manic Muppet songs, it is a gentle little lullaby sung from a point of view of Kermit's little frog cousin Robin and its basically a kid singing his little song to himself. It is a lovely diamond of a song that any lonely kid might sing in his own little bubble - you know when you were small and everything was big and your little world is limited by warm comfort and safety of your home. It moved me unexpectedly to tears and I am listening it the whole day today. 

"Halfway down the stairs

Is a stair

Where I sit.

There isn't any

Other stair

Quite like

It.

I'm not at the bottom,

I'm not at the top;

So this is the stair

Where

I always

Stop."