hear what russell has to say

Russell Brand.  He is very funny, but annoys people, can come across like a twat, and is waaaaaaaaaaay to full of himself (it appears, not that l have a problem with him).  On the other hand, he also talks a lot of sense. Especially when it comes to tragic drugs related deaths and the analysis of them.
In this case, Philip Hoffman Seymour.

Read this piece.

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mad pierre

And another one bites the dust (as Queen would say).

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roberto schmidt's view on the selfie at the nelson mandela memorial

While l have Nelson Mandela's memorial service on my mind (because of my last post), there is an interesting article by Roberto Schimdt (here), about how the photograph he took of Barack Obama, David Cameron, and the Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt taking a 'Selfie' at Mandela's memorial service in Soweto, has been used to castigate the leaders, making them out to be childish and behaving inappropriately at a memorial service.
Much as l am loath to defend David Cameron in any way, shape or form, the photographer explains how it was a long service (about 4 hours), but more importantly, it was a joyous, party atmosphere, with people celebrating Mandela's life, and not a solemn occasion where the actions would have been in bad taste.
As Schmidt (the photographer, not the minister) points out, it shows how images can sometimes be misinterpreted without knowledge of the background or preceding events. More of his photographs from that day are below.
I still hate Cameron though.

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the nelson mandela signing and claire kosch showing how it's done

This will probably be all over the place soon, but after the disastrous / hilarious episode that was the so called sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial (above), here's a clip that will bring a tear to your eye.
When the children are all singing and making generic movements to a Christmas song, Claire Koch, a five year old little girl who has deaf parents, decides to sign American Sign Language so that they can be included, and becomes more animated as she does so.
As for the Mandela chappie, l could have done a better job, and my sign language leaves a lot to be desired.
However, it must have been like being in a bad dream, where you are suddenly pushed on stage in front of the world, and asked to do something that is beyond your capabilities.  I bet he kept pinching himself, hoping he was going to wake up at any moment.
He still produced some good bluffing with a straight face, though Claire Bosch should get the call next time.



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tony hancock and mrs brown's boys

Some of my Tony Hancock related books (yes -  l know l am sad!!)

I still love the old radio shows of Tony Hancock's 'Hancocks Half Hour', but found the TV versions less satisfying, because when he was on the radio, your imagination visualised a lot of the material, plus there were other characters such as Bill Kerr and Sid James that added to the charm.
However, whether it was on the radio or TV, one of the hooks to it's immense popularity, was that you felt everyone was having a laugh together, and in a way, playing themselves (which they were to a degree). Mistakes that were left in only added to the charm, a common theme with 'Mrs Brown's Boys', as that has a close nit (and often related) cast, and the mistakes and general playfulness make the TV audience and viewers at home feel as though they are in on (and part of) the joke, creating a climate where all are wanting the show to succeed.
Sadly for Hancock, he lost his way, left behind the people that helped make him successful (especially Ray Galton and Alan Simpson), and ended up committing suicide in 1968 while filming a (very poor) series in Australia. The magic, scripts and timing had left him, and l guess it all got too much for him, so he left us. There are some of the Australian shows on You Tube, but they are cringe worthy to look at, especially compared to what had gone before.
Luckily a lot of the old shows, especially the radio ones, have survived, so at least the humour can be enjoyed and rediscovered by new generations, and help pass the time for demented old bastards like myself, even if l am too young to remember the shows when they were first transmitted.
It's dated, but good humour is still good humour.
As for Mrs Brown's Boys, who knows what direction that will take. I just hope it isn't dragged on way past its sell by date, although l have a sneaking suspicion it will be, because most comedies are.




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another death - martin sharp

And another visionary bites the dust.  Martin Sharp is probably not that well known nowadays, but back in the swinging sixties, he produced some of the most eye catching, iconic, mind blowing images of the rock and counter culture world.  The Bob Dylan 'Mr Tambourine Man' one in red has long been a personal favourite of mine.
He also co-wrote songs with Cream, helped form OZ magazine, championed Tiny Tim (somebody had to) and promoted Arthur Stace's 'Eternity' graffiti (a cause well worth getting behind).
He died today aged 71, and even though he was Australian, privately educated, and had an inheritance, l still have utmost admiration for his work, and he seemed to be a fine upstanding fellow (not that l ever met him).

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napoleon's death mask

My best mate's parents were from St Helena, the place that Napoleon was exiled to (after he had already escaped from Elba), and the place where he died.
Until just recently, l was unaware that a death mask was made of him, but here it is.
I don't know about anybody else, but he looks like nothing l imagined him to be like, although you do get a real sense of how he must have appeared at the time.
Bringing history to life - the gory way!

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the hole in the wall gang and alias smith and jones

Here's some people that are well known from TV and the movies.  The Hole in the Wall gang, in a colourised photograph from Mads Madsen, originally taken in Fort Worth, Texas in 1900.
The outlaws are (from left to right) Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (The Sundance Kid),William Carver (News),  Ben Kilpatrick (The Tall Texan), Harvey Logan (Kid Curry) and Robert Leroy Parker (Butch Cassidy).
They look like men you would not want to get an argument with, but look nothing like how they where generally portrayed in popular movies and on TV, and, unlike what it says at the beginning of 'Alias Smith and Jones', Kid Curry was a hard hearted killer.

Here's Butch and Sundance from the movie (Robert Redford and Paul Newman)

Plus Ben Murphy playing Kid Curry, on the right (with Pete Duel) in Alias Smith and Jones (a TV classic).

Ben Murphy was cast because he resembled Paul Newman, and the studio was trying to cash in on the success of the 'Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid'  film.  I loved the show (and film), but sadly, Pete Duel suffered from depression and killed himself on New Years Eve 1971. The studio (ABC) were a bunch of unsentimental money grabbing bastards and made everyone continue or be sued, and filming re-commenced the same day of his death, with the man who originally did the voiceover, (Roger Davis) taking Pete Duel's role, but it was never as good.

They (the studio) must have got confused and thought it was still the days of The Wild West, and were just concerned about making money, with no thoughts of correct moral behaviour. 

The original Kid Curry would have been proud of them.

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the death of gareth williams

This one is going to run and run for the conspiracy theorists.  A codebreaker from MI6, Gareth Williams, did not turn up for work and was not reported missing for a week.  When his naked body was found at his London flat in August 2010, it was so decomposed that the cause of death could not be established.
Did l mention the naked body?  Oh yes! But there's more!!
The naked body was inside a red sports holdall, but not only that, it was padlocked from the outside, and was in his bath.  None of Mr Williams' fingerprints or DNA were found on the lock, but despite being judged as an unlawful killing by coroner Fiona Willcox in May 2012, it has now been classed as an accident after a three year evidence review by the Metrepolitan  Police.
There are still some unanswered questions about how he was found by his landlady on one occasion in his boxer shorts, tied to his bed and unable to free himself, and why he had expensive womens clothes in his flat when he apparently did not have a girlfriend (but he could have had one in the past).
Male or female Prostitutes?  Kinky sex games?  Amateur escape artist?  Killed by spy type badies?
Who really knows, but speaking as a fan of magic tricks and escapology, that's one hell of an accident. There's a video on the Daily Mail site showing how to lock yourself into a bag similar to the one used, but l'd have thought the lock be covered in fingerprints and DNA afterwards.
My original post after the first verdict is here.

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lou reed has died

Damn! I've just heard that Lou Reed has died.  One of my heroes, and someone who mythologised the seedy and decadent rock and roll existence better than anyone, especially in his Velvet Underground days. The man who inspired me to go to Lexington 125 to buy drugs when New York was still dangerous.
He was also a writer of tender love songs, a true poet, and a famously curmudgeonly character.
I for one (but amongst many others), will miss him.

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extremely loud and incredibly close - jonathan safran foer and the falling man of 9/11

I got into reading 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' (by Jonathan Safran Foer) just before Channel 4 started showing films and documentaries about 9/11, and didn't realise when l started reading it, that there was any connection to the destruction of The World Trade Centre (but there is).
A young boys father has been killed (guess where and how), and the boy (Oskar Scell) then finds a key that his father had hidden in a vase, and wonders what it will open. As the envelope it was contained in had the word 'Black' written on it, he assumes that must be someone who his father knew, so goes out on a long, long search around New York to try and find them. I really enjoyed the book, as it kept you absorbed and guessing, so I won't give the outcome away, but at the end of the book there are numerous pictures of a man falling from the twin towers, which coincidentally led on nicely to 'The Falling Man' documentary which was broadcast just as l finished the book.

That concerned the identity of the falling man that was originally shown in 'The Morning Call' newspaper in the States, but subsequently seen all around the world.  There were viewpoints on whether the photograph should have been printed, and there was a (you would imagine) impossible search to try and find out who the man was. However, once a couple of suspects had been mooted and family and friends questioned, there was also the consequences of the harm and hurt the families might suffer if the mans identity was confirmed which had to be taken into consideration.  Maybe it is better for all involved not to know, and have him represent other victims, the way that 'The Unknown Soldier' does.  Of course there was the dilemma that some family members who were Catholic and did not want to think their relative had committed suicide, as that was a sin and their soul would 'Go to Hell', which puts another slant on the need to identify the jumper. In the end, the identity was left open, despite some decent evidence, and that was probably for the best.
It must have taken some nerve to jump, but l would rather have done that myself than staying in the building and burning.

As a sidenote, one of the adverts inbetween the programme started with 'Jump into a world of choice...'
How ironic.

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the strypes - snapshot and wilko johnson dealing with death

This has been on steady rotation throughout the day, and l think it's great!   The Strypes new album (in old money) called 'Snapshot', which is short in length but full of energy and attitude. They certainly copy their influences, but their music, clothes and presentation is spot on.  I wouldn't go as far to say they have the same aggressive attitude as Dr Feelgood (who they sound like the most), but they obviously have time to develop, and Wilko Johnson and John B Sparks (from Dr Feelgood) certainly support them.

This sort of stuff makes me want to be 17 again.  I hope they don't blow it.

Here's The Strypes with Wilko and Sparky (as l call him), doing the Feelgoods 'She Does It Right'.



Here's the Feelgoods doing the original  



And here's Wilko talking about his terminal cancer on Breakfast TV.  I'd like to think l would react the same way to the news of my impending death as he has with his own.  What a genius guitarist and a fine example of a man.  See (or buy) Oil City Confidential for more affirmation.



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now that's what l call a sand sculpture!

The person who did this is a genius!  I bet there will be more than a few people freaked out by it (and some others thinking they have had a lucky discovery).  The seaweed hair is a nice touch.
From here.

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the death of emmett till

 Emmet Till and his mother

The Jury - who thought Bryant and Milam were guilty, but didn't deserve a life sentence or the death penalty for killing  a black man, so acquitted them

The murderers

I first heard about the death of Emmet Till through the song by Bob Dylan, but after re-reading about it recently, it is amazing to think that it only happened in 1955, ten years after the end of the Second Word War.
Till (aged 14) had supposedly wolf whistled at Carolyn Bryant, a shop girl in Money, Mississippi, and was subsequently beaten, an eye gouged out, fatally shot, and then thrown into the Tallahatchie river.
While there was outage after the body was found, and the open casket funeral to show Till's beaten and disfigured face, there was even more when the all white jury found the killers, Roy Bryant and J.W Milam (Carolyn's husband and his half brother) to be not guilty.  The killers later gave a paid interview to Look magazine in 1956, where they admitted what they had done, but because of Double Jeopardy, they could not be retried, and they went on with their lives, with Bryant not dying until 1994, aged 63.
Despite the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr preaching non violence, and the rapid escalation of the Civil Rights movement due in no small part to this case, l'd still have wanted to extract revenge on the murderers.
Just over 50 years ago - that is no time at all as far as history is concerned, and sadly, there are still plenty of people about now who still harbour the white supremacy attitude, and probably think what happened to Till was justified.
Twats.

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experiments in the revival of organisms

Want to see dead animals bought back to life?  Amputated dogs leads responding to external stimuli??
Look no further, it's all here, in a Soviet film from 1940.



Spooky stuff.

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the vivian maier story

There was a great BBC Imagine documentary on the other night about Vivian Maier, the loner nanny who took thousands of photographs, mostly street scenes from around the Chicago area.
The photography itself was really high quality, but of course the most fascinating part of the story was that she kept the photographs to herself, and was so driven in her need to take them, expressing herself and capturing her own (and her surroundings) history.  I have always had a great admiration for anyone who just does their own thing, not caring what others think (hence my love of Keef), so this was right up my street.
Since her death in 2009, there has been a huge demand for her prints and originals, plus gallery displays and coffee table books, but you would like to think that she would still have had some success if her work had been unearthed earlier.  Now that she has ceased to be (as The Pythons would say), she will always be the elusive loner character, and her worth will probably only increase, as her cult following grows.
Maier kept her photography work in various storage containers, which was then bought unseen when she could not meet her storage bills, with the consequence that it was divided up among  innocents, collectors, and get rich quick charlatans.
Some of the images and information can be found here and here, and the BBC doc is here.
I may post some of her street photography at a later date, as l particularly like the ones with billboard or theater writing in the background, but for the meantime, above are some of her self portraits.
How very reflective.

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