Cocktail Time: Vodka & Cranberry Juice

Posted on July 3, 2025 by platinumal

Apparently, this particular drink has been named a “Cape Cod” by cocktail afficionados – I have no idea why! Whatever the name, this is a simple and refreshing drink that can be enjoyed at any time, whatever the season.

I had my first vodka and cranberry juice drink in New York City, I believe it was the Broom Street Bar. The drink became a favourite as it makes a refreshing change from the usual, and is really simple to make at home. Here’s how:

Vodka & Cranberry Juice

Vodka
Cranberry juice
Ice

You can mix this drink to your own preference, but I usually have a double measure of vodka. Add ice cubes to a standard tall glass, pour in the double vodka, then top up with cranberry juice. Easy

This should be fairly low calorie drink, especially if you use low sugar cranberry juice. Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy.

Soundtrack: “(Theme from) New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra.

Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot Tub urges you to drink responsibly.

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #37

Posted on June 19, 2025 by platinumal

You wanted it – you got it! Another Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub. This is where I spend an evening playing 7 inch singles that have found their way into my vinyl collection, from any number of different sources. None of the records have been played before, so I spend a few hours playing both sides and working through that pile.

There’s usually plenty of variety in the stack, with songs old and new, from any genre. Anything can happen, so just enjoy the ride.

Grab a drink and let’s check out the latest playlist:

The Beatles – “Now and Then” / “Love Me Do”
The Dickies – “Banana Splits” / “Hideous” / “Got It at the Store”
S.S.S. – “CDC” / “Bath Night” / “Thrash with a Small Moustache” / “Black Night White Light”
999 – “Little Red Riding Hood” / “Wait For Your Number to be Called” / “I Ain’t Gonna Tell Ya”
Roxy Music – “Jealous Guy” / “To Turn You On”
Ram Jam – “Black Betty” / “I Should Have Known”
Bee Gees – “Tragedy” / “Until”
ABBA – “One Of Us” / “Should I Laugh or Cry”
Sweet – “Love is Like Oxygen” / “Cover Girl”
The Alarm – “Spirit of ’76” / “Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke? (Live)”
Nancy Sinatra – “Love Eyes” / “Coastin'”
Kool & The Gang – “Joanna” / “Tonight”
Rick Dees & His Cast of Idiots – “Disco Duck (Pt. 1)” / “Disco Duck ({Pt. 2)”
Matthew Wilder – “Break My Stride” / “Break My Stride (Instrumental)”
Bee Gees – “Night Fever” / “Down the Road”
Dire Straits – “Romeo & Juliet” / “Solid Rock”
Nilsson – “Without You” / “Gotta Get Up”
Sinitta – “Right Back Where We Started From” / “I Just Can’t Help It”
Sabrina – “Boys (Summertime Love)” / “Get Ready (Holiday Rock)”
Oceanic – “Insanity (Legendary Mix)” / “Reality”
Charlie Pride – “The Most Beautiful Girl” / Johnny Cash – “Ring of Fire” / Crystal Gayle – “Miss the Mississippi & You” / Tammy Wynette – “Stand By Your Man” / Bertie Higgins – “Key Largo”

Twenty one records this week, and enough variety to keep anyone on their toes. Disco, punk, pop and rock classics – this was one of my best Singles Nights yet.

Notes:

The Beatles single is their last ever song, released recently and backed with their first ever single. A must for the collection.

That Dickies single is on yellow vinyl, naturally. The 999 record is plain old black vinyl, but I’ve been after that for a very long time. It was one of the songs on the first punk/new wave compilation I heard, it confused me as it didn’t sound “punk” (or what I thought was punk at the time). Great song.

SSS stands for Short Sharp Shock, a hardcore/skate thrash band from Liverpool that I can’t believe I never saw live. The last track is dedicated to Metallica bass legend Cliff Burton.

That final 7″ country record i picked up for 50p in a charity shop. Plain sleeve, so very little information – some fantastic songs though. not least my all time hero, Johnny Cash.

Berlin Wall: A Piece of History?

Posted on May 3, 2025 by platinumal

Tat or treasure? That’s what we’re investigating in this edition of the Tat section, here at Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot Tub. We have an item that could be a genuine piece of history, or it could just be pure junk.

The item in question is a piece of the Berlin Wall. Or at least, it claims to be.

Sometime in October 1990, I was on a school trip to Berlin. The wall separating East and West Germany had come down the year before, a momentous event that heralded the end of the Cold War and huge changes in Europe. Studying the Rise of Fascism in Europe as part of my History A Level, a trip to the once and future German capital was an appropriate field trip.

Most of that visit involved my friends and I drinking lots of German beer rather than any serious historical study, but whatever.

Of course, on trips like these, it was customary to take souvenirs home. And what better souvenir than an actual piece of the Berlin wall? At a stall near the Reichstag building and mere feet away from the wall, I bought the small, plastic box shown here, containing brightly coloured fragments of the infamous construct.

I’ve heard since that visit, that the only way to be sure of owning an actual piece of the wall was to hack some of it off yourself. Pick axes were available to hire at the site for that purpose, and indeed some of my friends tried that approach (with little luck).

So the question remains: although bought at the site, is this an actual piece of Berlin wall – or did some unscrupulous Capitalist scumbag spray some random concrete in lurid colours and pass it off to me as the genuine article?

What do you think?

Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub #36

Posted on March 31, 2025 by platinumal

It’s that time again – Singles Night! Yes, the night at my Virtual Hot Tub where we play a variety of 7 inch singles and have a few beverages. A record listening party, if you will, but only involving 45 rpm discs.

There’s a huge stack of unplayed singles lurking round the Hot Tub. Some old, some new, some that have been given to me as a gift. They’ve collected together over time from all manner of different sources, and they need to be played.

So play them I will, A side first then flip ’em over for the B side – playing through the stack for the sheer fun of it.

Pour yourself a drink and join me, who knows what we’ll hear?

Here’s the playlist:

Chafed GBI – “The Regulator”
Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind – “Get Down Get With It” / “Ace of Spades”
Elvis Presley – “Are You Lonesome Tonight? (The Laughing Version)” / “From a Jack to a King”
Bad Company – “Feel Like Makin’ Love” / “Wild Fire Woman”
The Alarm – “Absolute Reality” / “Blaze of Glory”
INXS – “Need You Tonight” / “Move On”
Vapors – “News at Ten” / “Wasted” / “Talk Talk”
Lita Ford – “Kiss Me Deadly” / “Broken Dreams”
Depeche Mode – “Just Can’t Get Enough” / “Any Second Now”
Shakin’ Stevens – “Green Door” / “Don’t Turn Your Back”
Simple Minds – “Ghostdancing” / “Jungleland”
Duran Duran – “The Reflex” / “Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me”
The Motors – “Forget About You” / “Picturama”
Chic – “I Want Your Love” / “(Funny) Bone”
Slade – “Know Who You Are” / “Dapple Rose”
Thin Lizzy – “Killer On The Loose” / “Don’t Play Around”
Roxy Music – “Over You” / “Manifesto”
Madonna – “Material Girl” / “Pretender”
AC/DC – “Heatseeker” / “Go Zone”
David Bowie – “Fashion” / “Scream Like a Baby”
The Alarm – “Rescue Me” / “The Hurricane Sessions (My Land Your Land)”
ABBA – “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme” / “The King Has Lost His Crown”

Twenty two songs this week, and some real beauties in that session. From great classic rock (Bad Company, Thin Lizzy, AC/DC) to 80’s pop (Depeche Mode, Madonna, ABBA) to punk/new wave (Vapors, The Motors) there’s a wide spread of awesome songs.

Some notes:

Chafed GBI is a “supergroup” comprising Scott Ian and Charlie Benante of Anthrax, with Dave Grohl on drums. It’s a single sided, colour vinyl 7 inch of the classic Bad Brains song released for Record Store Day.

The Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind single is on coloured vinyl. While it does contain a cover of the Slade song on the A-side (though that was a cover of an earlier tune), the B-side is not the song made famous by Motorhead! Still great though.

An amazing night of vinyl spinning. More soon!

Platinum Al’s Top 10 Rock & Metal Albums of 2024

Posted on January 21, 2025 by platinumal

2024 was a fantastic year for new music. As previous, I was asked to compile my Top 10 of the year for Ever Metal, which wasn’t easy. That list has already been published on the EM website, but I’ve replicated it here for anyone who missed it…

Every year, it’s a struggle to whittle down tons of superb albums to just ten. This year has been just as difficult (if not more so) and I’ve had to leave off a few great releases that just didn’t make the cut, for one reason or another. I’m sure I’ll regret leaving a few of those off the final 2024 list, even if it’s just because they’re still very new I’ve not had chance to grow into them yet.

Anyway, here’s the best of 2024 as it feels right now:

10. Goat Major – Ritual

Released in March, this debut from Welsh Occult Doom Metal band Goat Major announced a formidable new talent to the scene. Building on their love of the classic bands that defined the genre, Goat Major add plenty of their own character to a magnificent album.

9. Crobot – Obsidian

Crobot’s latest release certainly has a darker, heavier atmosphere than previous albums, but the unmistakeable groovy riffs are well in place and ready to unleash the Hard Rock mayhem.

8. Acid Mammoth – Supersonic Megafauna Collision

Greek Doom-mongers Acid Mammoth delivered another heavy weight slab of fuzzy Stoner Metal, with a variety of moods and hefty groove. Neolithic Rock with a touch of the ethereal.

7. Duel – Breakfast with Death

Amazing album title. Fantastic cover artwork to compliment said title. And guess what? This latest release by Texan Stoner Metal gang Duel is even better than first impressions would suggest: Doomy Stoner Biker Rock from hell!

6. The Obsessed – Gilded Sorrow

Wino’s legendary Doom Metal crew returned in early 2024, to remind everyone how it should be done. Infectious, groovy riffs, heavy as shittery songcraft and head spinning melody collide in a perfect meltdown.

5. Orange Goblin – Science, Not Fiction

The definitive Orange Goblin album? Could be. This latest OG album demonstrates all of their strengths, welding together the various sounds and genres they’ve mastered over the years. Bursting with energy and invention.

4. Torso – Brain Cells

More exhilarating chainsaw Garage Metal from Torso, this lo-fi masterpiece arrived with all the subtlety of a brick to the forehead. Less John Carpenter this time, but definitely slasher-splatter death-mosh a go go!

3. Zombina and the Skeletones – The Call of Zombina

They’re back! One of the most wonderful live bands I’ve ever witnessed, Zombina and crew finally returned with a non-stop Horror Punk party, just in time for Halloween. Long may they continue!

2. Fu Manchu – The Return of Tomorrow

The only downside of a new Fu album is waiting for it to be released! Their first new album in six years was everything I hoped for, a double album split between a first half of fuzzy rockers and a second of slower tempo groovers. RAD!

1 Sergeant Thunderhoof – The Ghost of Badon Hill

The ‘Hoofs last album was number 1 in my 2022 Top Ten – and whaddya know, they’ve done it again! Slightly less bombastic then their previous, but even more engrossing, “The Ghost of Badon Hill” is a mature and thrilling record to get lost in.

So that’s ten. Honourable mentions go out to Melvins, Lucifer, Black Tusk, Alunah and Barbarian Hermit amongst many others.

Here’s hoping 2025 can match this…

Keep coming back to Ever Metal and Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot Tub for all the best rock and metal reviews!

Platinum Al’s Instagram Top 9 2024

Posted on January 14, 2025 by platinumal

Continuing the January 2025 review of the previous year, let’s take a look at the Top 9 photos I posted on Instagram. This time last year I posted the 2023 version, so why not keep the tradition up?

It’s a simple process to get your most liked photos from Insta as a grid of nine images. This snapshot shows the most liked (top left) to least (bottom right) of the year’s best performers.

Here’s a breakdown of what the images were:

Here’s me at Star Tours in Disneyland Paris, complete with X-Wing Pilot t-shirt.
A Christmas porttrait.
The Bad Brains album “Quickness” on vinyl.
A bottle of Higson’s Bitter Ale.
An album by the band Budgie, “Never Turn Your Back on a Friend”, on vinyl.
Vinyl copy of the classic “Home Invasion” album by Ice-T.
Last year’s 2023 Top 9!
Pinball machines I found in a Whitby arcade.
Ancient burial sites in Anglesey, North Wales.

That’s quite a diverse range of photos, and also fairly typical of what I post on Instagram: vinyl and beer.

Thanks for sharing these moments with me. If you like, you can follow me on Instagram: platinum_al.official.

The Best of 2024

Posted on January 7, 2025 by platinumal

Happy New Year, loyal friends and followers of Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot Tub! We’re now striding into 2025 with confidence and glee, but as is customary, our first post of the year is a round up of the previous year’s successes.

So here are the Top Ten most read posts from 2024 – the ones that grabbed your attention, and briefly lit up the internet with enthusiasm.

10. New Skateboard 2024 – Death Blinky

The most read posts on this blog relate to skateboarding, you may be surprised to know. But they’re usually slow burners, attracting attention year after year, rather than big hitters. So it was nice to see this update about my latest skate set up make it into the Top 10 list. Nice photos may have helped.

9. Platinum Al’s Top 10 Rock & Metal Albums of 2023

My pick of the best in Rock and Metal albums for 2023 was published by Ever Metal, and I then posted it on my blog, too. Nice to know that you guys must trust my judgement. The 2024 Top 10 will follow soon.

8. UK Subs – Gig Review

I went to quite a few amazing gigs in 2024, the UK Subs in Wrexham being one of them. This was a great gig and I finally got to see this classic band live.

7. Anti Racism Poem

Anything my daughter Eloise contributes to my blog is always well received, and this school poem was no exception. A great piece of work and wonderful sentiment.

6. GBH – Gig Review

Another legendary punk band live review in the 2024 Top 10! This concert by punk legends GBH was fantastic, good to see the review proved popular.

5. Liverpool Comic Con

Comic conventions always perform well on the blog, and this experience from May was no exception. I also paid a visit to Liverpool Comic Con in November too, but sadly the photos from that have evaporated and the blog is redundant.

4. Whitby Road Trip – On the Trail of Dracula

In February 2024, we went on a family road trip to the beautiful seaside town of Whitby. It wasn’t just tourism travel though, we were on the trail of Count Dracula, himself. Our vampire hunt made it to number 7 on the list.

3. UK Subs – Jet Age Review

One of my Ever Metal album reviews proved a big success: this review of the 5 CD set of UK Subs albums from Cherry Red Records.

2. Comic Con Mania – Chester

Another Comic Convention in the Top 10! Chester was good fun, and great to see it back after it first looked like it wouldn’t happen at all.

And so we reach the top of the pile, the cream of the crop! Drum roll, please, as I reveal the most popular blog post of 2024…

Wales Comic Con

Wales Comic Con made a return to Wrexham, and Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot Tub was there for it. This event was a scaled down affair, and sadly turned out to be a bit of a fraud. The organisers still owe us money for celeb autographs we booked but never got – and it looks like we’ll never get that cash back.

Every cloud and all that, though: Wrexham’s Wales Comic Con is under new management and hopefully will regain the heights of previous years. Let’s see…

2024 was a reassuringly successful year for the Virtual Hot Tub. Fifty posts were published, reaching the highest number of views per year since 2018.

Thanks to all of my readers for helping create this magnificent achievement – I really appreciate everyone who reads, likes and shares this content. All the best to you and your families for 2025 – I hope the year ahead brings you health and happiness.

Stay tuned to Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot Tub, folks – there’s no stopping us now!

Rock’n’Roll Drink Time: Jack Daniel’s

Posted on December 30, 2024 by platinumal

That’s right, it’s not Cocktail Time at the Virtual Hot Tub this week. Instead, it’s just a straight forward tribute to an all time classic, the legendary Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey. It’s party time right now, so let’s keep this blog short and sweet to commemorate a true favourite.

You know the name, you recognise the brand style, I’m sure you’ve tried the drink. Jack Daniel’s is most commonly mixed with some kind of cola: Tad sang about it with Pepsi, my good buddy Lemmy drank his with Coke (I can verify this from first hand experience).

Also enjoyed straight, over ice or with any number of other mixers, Jack Daniel’s whiskey is a true classic and a must have for any liquor cabinet.

Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot Tub urges you to drink responsibly.

Soundtrack: “Jack Pepsi” by Tad of any Motorhead track.

Twins of Halloween Horror Fest

Posted on October 14, 2024 by platinumal

Twins of Evil (1971)

You can’t go wrong with some good old fashioned Hammer Horror! Here we have Twins of Evil, the third and final part of Hammer’s Karnstein Trilogy, based on Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. We’ve already viewed the preceding movies – The Vampire Lovers and Lust For A Vampire – during previous Halloween Horror Fests, so let’s finish off the series.

Mary and Madeleine Collinson play two identical twin sisters, who are sent to live with their uncle and aunt after they become orphaned. Uncle Gustav – played with menace by the one and only Peter Cushing – is a puritanical zealot, keen on burning local young women at the stake. Gusatv’s stern attitude alienates both sisters, but Frieda in particular is keen to break away. She falls in with local wicked aristocrat Count Karnstein (Damien Thomas), who has become a vampire through his dabbling in black magic.

Soon Frieda follows the Count’s descent into vampirism. Will the witch hunting Brotherhood be able to destroy this evil? Will anyone be able to tell good sister from bad?

Regular readers will know I’m a huge Hammer fan. Whilst Twins of Evil is, for me, the weakest of the Karnstein Trilogy, it’s still great. The witch hunting angle lends a new and particularly horrific edge here (sad to see Judy Matheson exit so quickly) and Cushing is formidable in this role. Vampires, sorcery and some cheeky decolletage tick all the necessary boxes, and despite a rushed (but gruesome) ending, this is another Hammer triumph.

8/10

The Ghost of Halloween Horror Fest

Posted on October 2, 2024 by platinumal

A crack of lightning; the roll of thunder; rain lashing at the window. Night has fallen, and the cold air nags at your bones with a morbid persistence. The wind moans, but cannot hide the strange calls off in the mountains. The children of the night, what music they make… Come closer, friend. It is time once again for Halloween Horror Fest…

That’s right, kids – Halloween Horror Fest! Throughout the month of October, I watch as many films that are appropriately fearsome, frightening, or just pure fun! Here at the Virtual Hot Tub is where you can catch up on my mini reviews of each movie, and enjoy spooky season and all it’s macabre delights!

The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)

We’ll start this year with a gem from good old Universal. You really can’t beat these old black & white movies for sheer atmosphere and nostalgia. I’ve never seen The Ghost of Frankenstein before, so was keen to tick it off my list.

Following on from the previous film in the series, Son of Frankenstein (1939), we again meet Ygor (Bela Lugosi), who discovers and rescues his old friend The Monster. This time, Frankenstein’s creation is played by Lon Chaney Jr, rather than Karloff. The pair travel to a new town to locate the younger son of Frankenstein, Ludwig (Cedric Hardwicke), where Ygor blackmails the doctor into revitalising the creature. A plan is set in motion to replace the monster’s criminal brain with a “good” brain, but some have their own ambitions motivating them…

Plot wise, I could tell exactly where this movie was headed from the off – there are no real surprises. And the lack of Karloff as the monster made me somewhat wary. But Chaney Jr has a good crack at it, and the rest of the cast (including Lionel Atwill) keep proceedings on track. Moody sets, great soundtrack and an enjoyable (though somewhat obvious) storyline helped make this film another triumph for Universal.