photos of the syrian conflict

Where a 70 year old woman was killed in a shelling attack

 A fighter with a rocket launcher

 Government tanks in the high streets

 Fighters planting anti tank bombs

 A Free Syrian fighter

 Aftermath of a car bomb

This man had his right hand cut off by Syrian security forces

Injured after a tank opened fire on anti government protesters

The Free Syrian Army are still fighting the government forces in Syria (where else?), and here are some photographs of the conflict and it's aftermath.
It reminds me of Catterick in the 1970's.
More info here.

spider bites

I would like to point out that this is not my bum (l am pleased to say) as it is the photographs of a spider bite and it's spread while someone was on holiday.
Horrible little gits, no wonder l don't like them.

toodle pip

the sky at night

Two shots of the night sky from outside work. The colours have not been altered in any way, the second picture was just a slightly later time.
You'd think l had nothing better to do, and no work to be getting on with.

toodle pip

hold up in bedale and seeing my brother on tv

As we were short staffed (again!), l agreed to work on Friday night and then Saturday morning. This should have worked out fine, as l was meant to be going to Stockton for the FPO's fathers birthday in the afternoon of Saturday. Of course things did not go so smoothly, as other staff phoned to cancel shifts and l had to stay longer, until re-enforcements arrived. Then l got stuck for ages in the Bedale area, as l suspect there may have been a crash (as well as roadworks), due to fire engines shooting past me with the sirens a sounding. By the time l finished work, the FPO phoned to say it was pointless coming through, as her and her sisters would be coming home soon. The good news is she bought me some goodies back (samosas, sausage rolls etc), and l saw my brother on the TV watching the Wigan v Newcastle game in a bikini (at least l think it was him). I thought he lived in Leeds.....

toodle pip

dr feelgood - southend 1975

I used to love Dr Feelgood back in the day (not night). Here they are in Southend 1975, which may be have resulted in some of the recordings for the Stupidity live album, the first one of theirs l bought (sadly without the free single).
I also hitch hiked from Catterick in North Yorkshire (alone) to see them in Reading (Top Rank) when l was just a nipper (1977?), because, lets face it, there was bugger all else to do.
They were so much better than Tina Charles and most of the other crap that was in the charts in them days (have you seen the 1977 Top of the Pops replays?).
Then there was punk.
Hurrah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



toodle pip

la looking pretty cool and rock and roll in the early 1970's

Los Angeles is probably a pretty cool place to live most of the time (I'd imagine), but it must have been pretty great in the early 1970's, when the Rock juggernaut was at it's peak, the sex and drugs were on tap (before total addiction and Aids) and all the top bands were still young and relevant.
More billboards from that time and place are here.

toodle pip

kaboom (2010) - gregg araki

If you like your 'New Queer Cinema'  films to feature young, good looking, polysexual, drug taking, open minded children of the New Order (probably based on this), with some supernaturality, witchcraft and murder thrown in for good measure (and as the good lord Keith knows - l do), then Kaboom is the movie crafted especially with you in mind.
It features all of the above, and a little bit more, even if, at first, it seems like any other American high school movie.
Thomas Decker as Smith (John Conner in Terminator!)  is outrageously good looking, and even prettier than the rest of the cast. The music choices (The xx, Placebo, The Yeah Yeah Yeah's etc) are top notch, and the dialogue is sharp and current. Even the clothes are pretty cool (not green).
Once the drugs kick in, things start to unravel, as an undercurrent of menace starts to infiltrate, and it just gets weirder and weirder as it goes along.
There are strange dreams and premonitions, missing girls, people in animal masks, and plenty of sex and nudity.
So....why is it not superb?
Because the last half an hour feels false and rushed, as though it is a bodged job of trying to fit the various strands together, with no great resolution in sight. It's as if they didn't believe in a plausible way to end the movie, and the ending they chose felt like a let down.
Pah!!
So close to an excellent film, yet so far away.
Saying that, l am certainly going to check out more of Gregg Araki's  films.
As Arnie would say - "l'll be back".

toodle pip

rhino / fat unicorn t shirts

A clever and funny idea for a t-shirt, which makes perfect sense when you think about it.
Rhino's are just fat Unicorns.
Excellent stuff.
Available here.

toodle pip

the spooky white shops

These photos are of the White Shops in Catterick. They looked good and spooky, but l think my unsteadiness with the camera achieved the eerie effect, which l was pleasantly surprised with.
I'll make a photographer one of these days.

toodle pip

and no one on the roads

These were taken last week when l was out and about for work. Once again - hardly anybody was about.
Don't get me wrong, that's what l like about the place, especially when the weather is good.
We certainly live in the middle of nowhere, but are also extremely close the the A1 if we want to find civilisation- hurrah!!.
Therefore, the best of both worlds, as long as other people stay out of my way, and the sun starts shining a bit more.

toodle pip

no one at northallerton hospital

Visiting (again) at Northallerton Friarage hospital this week, it sometimes felt as though l was The Omega Man, as there was a distinct lack of other people about at some stages.
One day l'll storm the place and claim it as my own (in the name of The Colburn Popular Front, for old times sake).

toodle pip

the hoover is back!

Myself and the FPO are not exactly the tidiest people in the world, and  we have recently had a shelf collapse, resulting in dust and debris all over the spare room. At the same time, the hoover decided to pack in, which (coincidentally), was at the precise moment the FPO tried to hoover a rug, and got the tassels entwined in the hoover's mechanisms, which certainly produced a burning smell and a lack of suction.
Anyhows........it's been away to be repaired in Richmond, and is now back, sorted out for the cheap and cheerful  sum of £27, including a new belt and a clean.
Admittedly, neither of us have switched it on yet, but l am sure that day is not too far away. I'm just waiting for the FPO to crumble (as I do the washing and washing up).
It was restored to it's former glory at the shop next to the old Woolies at the bottom of the market place, if you also have a sick gadget you need to take in.  l'd recommend it.

toodle pip

mangez moi (eat me) - billy ze kick

I don't know anything about this video, song (Mange Moi / Eat me), or group (Billy ze Kick), but if the rest of their output is like this, they have found themselves a fan.
It's just great (and l am not on drugs).

toodle pip

the flight of the phoenix (1965) - robert aldrich

Although l haven't seen the remake of 'The Flight Of The Phoenix', l really don't think it would be a good idea, as it might make my blood boil so much, the old (still struggling on at it's laid back pace) ticker may finally give up. The 1965 version can drag a bit, but it has some great character actors who are somewhat ordinary looking (including James Stewart). They may stray into playing stereotypes, but at least it makes the film believable, even if it is about rebuilding a new plane out of the remains of a crashed one (and in the middle of a desert at that).
There's stubbornness, cowardliness, stupidity and arrogance and death involved, and a fair bit of misunderstanding concerning the plane designer, but it is a good film, and l am glad l have seen it.
The remake however, l have only seen some movie stills from, and they are certainly enough to make me think it will be crap, featuring macho blokes with their shirts off (and a blowtorch), which did not exactly raise any confidence about the rest of the film. If l turn gay (or gayer), l'll give it a go. Until then, l don't think l am missing out on anything.
I could be wrong, but l very much doubt it.

toodle pip

the spiders and the wagga wagga floods

I've posted before about the spiders hitting the high ground after the floods in Wagga Wagga earlier this year, but l still can't get over how disgusting (and frightening) it looks every time l am presented with a new set of photographs.
Disgusting. And who in their right mind would let their dog just walk through the webs?

toodle pip