u2 photographs

At one point in my life l produced and sold magazines around the UK and Ireland, plus l was a bootleger, taping concerts and selling cassette copies of them by mail order and at record fairs. During my travels l met a lot of  'stars', but mainly just interesting people from all around the world, some of whom l corresponded with for a while, but sadly lost contact with, as l am crap at staying in touch with people.
Digging through the garage stuff (see below - an ongoing battle), l found these snaps of U2's Bono and The Edge knocking about from Glasgow 1987. The wall is outside Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin.
Below is a beermat signed to me (as one of 'The Glimmer Twins') from drinking with The Edge and his brother in the outskirts of Dublin (in about 1989).
Happy days.

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trying to draw

An early attempt at drawing found amongst the garage crap.  I gave up very soon afterwards.

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cleaning out the garage and doodle bug comic

Myself and the FPO spent some time yesterday sorting out some of the crap that was in the garage, resulting in me bringing in a load of boxes to see what was in them, to check if they were water damaged, as the door has been broken for ages.
There was some damage to old press reports for bands, but other than that, it was like being in an ideal junk sale, as l had forgotten about lots of the boxes contents, and of course they were originally stored away because they were items l wanted to keep in the first place.
I now have crap all over the house which l have been slowly working through, and you can expect plenty of scans and photographs of the crap in the near future, starting with these editions of 'Doodle Bug', a comic that l got involved with in 1987, and helped to start off and sell, mainly around the Catterick Garrison, Richmond and Newcastle area, with the main man and main artist himself, Royston Robertson.
I think l can safely say that it would not have been put together if l had not met and advised him (at Colburn stores), but once underway, he was the main ideas man and artist, and did most of the work. Looking at them now (and even at the time) there was a lot of room for improvement, but there was some great ideas and it was fun thing to do.
Only eight editions (I think) were put out, but the others must still be in the garage (trust me, there's still plenty more crap out there).
I am glad to say that Royston has since managed to make a career as a cartoonist, and books of his can be purchased from his site, which can be found here.  If asked nicely, he might even sign them for you.

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humans of new york and american tales

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those crazy japanese (part 583)

No doubt the FPO will be trying this out soon.
It's an exercise mouth piece by those crazy Japanese, which (supposedly) builds up the facial muscles, thus making the face look slimmer (for only 61 US dollars soldier boy!).
Yeah yeah, l'm sure it does, but of course the main attraction is how it makes the lady look (l can't see blokes using it)
It must have been designed by a man who has other uses filthy uses planned for it.
More info at Dangerous Minds

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adam west in the australian batman

CHARGES OVER BATMAN INCIDENT

• WEDNESDAY, 10 JULY 2013 07:09
 
• PRINT
 
•  EMAIL

Police have interviewed and charged a 25-year-old Noble Park man over an incident which occurred at Batman Railway Station early yesterday morning.

Mark Harris faced an out of sessions hearing early this morning and was remanded into custody to appear at the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court later today.

He is facing over 40 charges including charges for theft and criminal damage.

Senior Constable Adam West
Media Unit
VP28385/2013

You couldn't make this sort of crap up.  The Senior Constable in Batman, Australia, is called Adam West.
The same name as the TV Batman, but now the major of Quahog, Rhode Island in Family Guy.
The proper page with the report is here.

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the big bang - simon singh

 

Well. l've finally managed to finish Simon Singh's 'The Big Bang', and if you have even a passing interest in space, time, creation, mathematics and physics, it's the book to head for.
The majority of it was interesting, and Singh explains the subjects well, but l got a bit bored when it came to the breakup and formation of atoms. l prefer the mathematical side of working out and judging planets sizes and distances, as it's something l can get my head around easier.
As for the title and conclusion of the book, there are still so many unanswered questions regarding  'The Big Bang' itself, and my own view is l am in favour of infinite expanding and contracting multiverses that have always been, and will always be, requiring no creator (or start up from nothing).
Mindblowing, but the only option to me that makes sense.
More scans of the cartoon type/diagram pages from the book can be found here.

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the falconhoof adventure phone in

This is fantastic.
From Limmy's Show, it's the Falconhoof Adventure Phone In, which somehow, never ends well. The show pisses all over most of the 'so called' comedy shows that are usually commissioned, as it avoids the same boring middle class problems and overacting.
It's very subtly done, with some great performances by Brian Limond, and, as l have found to my cost (and precious time), there are loads of them on YouTube.
There's also the his website where you can waste more time playing stupid sounds here.
Enjoy!

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the pukes teach you how to play ukulele - plus the pink fairies

The Pukes are a society of punky, anti-establishment ukulele players in London, so if you want to get involved, get a ukulele and start learning the chords above.

As The Pink Fairies sang at Glastonbury 1971 - 'Just do it you muthas (Do it, Do it, Do it etc)'



Me?
I'm off for a cup of cocoa and a lie down.  I'm too old for this sort of malarky, but l applaud the idea and attitude, having lived through the punk wars myself.

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nickolay lamm's barbies

Ever wondered what Barbie Dolls would look like if they were modelled on real womens figures?
No?
Me neither actually, but when l saw these representations by Nicholay Lamm, l thought the differences were pretty interesting (but hardly unexpected).

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andre the giant (again)

I've written about Andre The Giant before, but here's a photograph of his hand holding a normal beer can
Very scary (or impressive - maybe both)
.

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tony matelli artwork

Rather like Ron Mueck, Tony Matelli is producing hyper life like artworks that are both realistic and spooky. I don't know if it should be considered an homage to Mueck, or just a rip off of his work, but Matelli's figures are certainly impressive. However, Mueck's work leaves more of a disturbing image seared into your retinas.  Once seen, never forgotten.
Then again, l've been to a couple of Mueck's exhibitions (and have a poster of his in my living room), so maybe if l saw Matelli's stuff close up, they might weave the same kind of disturbing fascination for me.
I think if l had the talent of either of them, l would just create some women for myself, and never leave the house. Oh, and maybe a George Best or two.
Some of Mueck's work in progress can be found here.

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the spiral cage - al davison

I was recommended this book before last Christmas, but have only just got around to reading it.(out in the hammock with hot sunshine and a beer - bliss).
It's an autobiography by Al Davison in the form of a graphic novel (originally in comic form). He's from Newcastle, was born with Spina Bifida, and the book tells of his struggles in life, his childhood and schooldays, adult life and relationships, plus his interest in martial arts and Buddhism (which he puts to good use).
Michael, the person who recommended it to me, is a fan of comics, and knows Davison personally, so correctly guessed it would be something that would interest me, and he was proved to be correct.
An excellent read, all the more gripping because it is true (plus it bought back memories of going into Timeslip, the Newcastle comic shop, to flog a comic l was involved with).

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jisum at jt's

Here's two videos of Jisum at JT's (in Catterick) last night, taken by Joe and Mark.
It was crowded and hot - excellent!.

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todd snider - money, compliments and publicity

Todd Snider came up on the shuffle settings today, and it reminded me of how much l love him, as l haven't played anything of his for a while.
He deserves to be a lot more popular.

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denis ryan - the irishman abroad

I never get tired of listening to this man.
It's Denis Ryan, talking a lot of sense (with top notch swearing), about the Irish financial crisis.
From the 'An Irishman abroad' channel, where there are more interviews with Ryan to be found.

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ac/dc and the hollow men

Watching the video for AC/DC's 'Let There Be Rock', it started to bug me that Bon Scott's cheeky eye glances upwards or to the side reminded me of something else.
Then it hit me - the video for The Hollow Men's 'White Train'.
I don't think Dave Ashmoore (the singer) is trying to channel the spirit of Bon Scott by any stretch of the imagination, it was just one of the many things in life that bug me.
Now l can relax and enjoy some Sunshiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (before l try and dig out my old Hollow Men t-shirt)

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t.rex at the georgian theatre (again)

I went along to The Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond tonight to see T.Rex.
Obviously it was the current version without Marc Bolan (or Mickey Finn nowadays), but still containing Paul Fenton on drums.
This was the second time l have been to see them at the Georgian, and it was pretty much like the first time. It's enjoyable, with rockier versions of the songs (including drum, organ and guitar solos - AAAHHHHH!!!!!), but l preferred it last time, as l liked Rob Benson (the previous singer) better.
That's not to say l didn't think much of Jay Spargo, the new frontman, as he did a pretty impressive facsimile of Marc'c vocals, but Benson was more of a hippie, and that appealed to my childhood leanings, especially when Benson performed the acoustic songs.
On a side note, l was surprised to be stopped on the way out by a girl who was celebrating her 40th and had recognised me from this blog, which she had stumbled across while googling for T.Rex (as you do).
I thought she was going to tell me some unpleasant news at first, as the conversation started with "I hate to tell you this, but....", which usually doesn't end well, but the news turned out to be complimentary.
Phew! Another close call.
Next stop - Jisum at J.T's tomorrow. No sleep till bedtime.

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reading festival 1977

Pah! Don't talk to me about festivals nowadays, with their yurts, celebs, posh food places, plus fences that would put the Berlin Wall to shame.
This was my first festival, Reading in 1977, when it stayed rainy and muddy,  weekend tickets were £7.50, and l hitch hiked there and back from Catterick, North Yorkshire (and got picked up going there by The Finn brothers from Richmond).
That, brothers and sisters, is what you call a festival experience (plus Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy, and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were on).
Once you have survived something like that, it's all relative afterwards.



Aerosmith in 1977 (Houston).  At the time, lots of drugs were being taken, and Steve Tyler wants the crowd to sing to 'Train Kept a Rollin', when the actual song is 'Toys in the Attic'.



The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - there's not been anyone like them since.


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