indiana jones spider tee shirt

Er....I don't think l will be making a purchase of this in the near future.

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jimmy carter self improvement - the observer

There was a really good piece on Jimmy Carter in The Observer at the weekend, which can be found here. He was one of the better USA presidents, sadly bought down by (amongst other things) The Iran Hostage situation . Operation Eagle Claw, commanded by Charlie Beckwith, failed in it's mission to bring back the hostages, and Beckwith has a book (Delta Force) about the operation, in which he praises Carter for taking the blame and not trying to hide behind his decisions, or appropriate blame elsewhere. Ronald Reagan followed Carter as president in 1981, and the day after, the hostages were released. Bastards.

The main bit in the article that got to me though, was he and his wife read the bible to each other at night time. No..... hold on....that's not the whole story....they read it to each other in Spanish, as they are trying to self improve.

Jimmy Carter is 86.

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blow in her face

Old adverts - aren't they great?

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the liverpool spider and the london elephant

These kind of art shows are fantastic. The reason l have them in my mind, is l have just seen a documentary about the Liverpool Spider (La Princesse), which was put on by Artichoke (who also did The London Sultan's Elephant). It costs a lot of money to put these things on (£1.8 million for the Liverpool one), but as somebody said in the crowd, it's only about £1 per person but it brings in a lot of revenue, and gives pride and joy to the people. I also love the Antony Gormley 'Another Place' figures at Crosby (Bootle beach as l know it) and 'The Angel of The North' in Gateshead (also by Gormley). The only thing l don't like, is the fact that some of the people behind the scenes will be getting paid a hell of money to lunch and commission them (and local workmen should be used to build them). Still fucking great though!

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the scouting book for boys (2009) - tom harper

Decided to give this film a go as it starred Thomas Turgoose, who has been in a few other things l have enjoyed (This is England, This is England 86, Somers Town), and it/he did not let me down. Turgoose plays his usual put upon adolescent role, and l had to stick on on the old subtitles as l couldn't follow all the Norfolk brogue (l'm getting old you know - the hearing's going and l'm turning demented), but the film was a pleasant surprise (although not very pleasant). Two young friends hang around together until she runs away. The police hunt for her and suspect an older friend of theirs has abducted her. It does not have a happy ending.

The actual book of 'Scouting For Boys' features in the film, which is the second time l have seen it in a few days, as it was also shown on 'QI', which made me think about reading it (the 1908 version that tells you how to deal with suicides, skin animals etc), as it is something l have never seen before (disadvantaged childhood and all that). Now l will definitely get a copy (and go hunting cattle and sustain myself by living off the land). On second thoughts - too many spiders about to be living outdoors.

toodle pip

some portugal photographs

Cliff Richard's wine overlooking the sea

The village where we stayed

The name of our villa

Church on the hill when we went to the market

Sporting club of Portugal bar

Lager, wine and peanuts outside the Bang Bang bar

At the seaside

Relaxing by our pool

A cold drink to have with my mackerel

The sky at night outside Osbourne's Bar

Reflection of Robbo in our pool

Statues at a roundabout by Faro

Drinks on the plane

I got round to sorting out some photographs from the i flip this evening, so here are a few of them. Food, drink and sun.....bliss.

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mexican pointed boots

These my friends, are what you call proper hardcore boots, as worn by those crazy Mexicans. Very good for kicking people up the bum (literally).

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medicine the old fashioned way

I think our local chemist has stopped selling this while l have been away. I certainly got a funny look asking for some today (and kicked out of the shop). What is the world coming to?

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swimming the old fashioned jersey way

1910

1904

These are from the Jersey shore in 1904 and 1910.

I am so glad the beaches in Portugal were not as crowded as this. How on earth can they enjoy themselves? I would want to take a machine gun to them all (or set some sharks loose).

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unfortunate photograph angle

Oh dearie me.

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whatever works (2009 ) - woody allen

I have grown into a fan of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', in which Larry David is superb, albeit playing an exaggerated version of himself (season 8 starting this weekend!).

I am also a fan of Woody Allen, he has done some great films in the past, plus some of his stand up and stories used to be really funny.

This however, l nearly switched off half way through. It is not a good Woody Allen film, and Larry David does not have such a good role as he does in 'Curb'. It's not that funny, not that romantic, and not that good of a story.

Boris, an old cranky man (David), meets and marries a young girl (Evan Rachel Wood), then her mom comes to town, followed by her father. Everyone changes and life is random.

Whooooopppie!

It's a good job l have plenty of spare time on my hands at the moment, or l would be really pissed off with the two hours l wasted watching this.

Christ, l sound like Boris in the movie (and nearly as old).

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the boston strangler (1968) - richard fleischer

This is based on the book by , starring Tony Curtis as Albert DeSalvo (The Boston Strangler). I have never read the book, but there were a lot of inaccuracies in the film compared to the real life case, however, l enjoyed it anyway. There were a lot of split screen shots and reflections in glass, obviously to enforce the split personality the film portrays DeSalvo as having. Curtis was excellent, as was Henry Fonda, playing the chief detective John S Bottomly. It was dated and old looking, with lots of false leads (which is fine by me), but l would have preferred it if it had stuck to the known facts of the case, including it's inconclusive element, but that's the movies for you.

Nearly forgot, l also thought it gave Peter Hurkos way too much credibility, portraying him as unnervingly accurate, although he was still wrong. Balderdash l say!

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comedy overload - sean lock - rich hall and bill hicks

Myself and the FPO have been catching up on TV recorded while away, including live concerts from Sean Lock, Rich Hall and Bill Hicks (we like our comedy!). She was not too keen on the Bill Hicks stuff, and Sean Lock was OK (she found him funnier than l did), but Rich Hall was excellent, especially when he is singing as his Otis Lee Crenshaw alter ego. I am a big fan of Bill Hicks myself, in fact l also watched American - The Bill Hicks Story afterwards (alone), but agree that he sometimes spends too much time trying to put over a political point, rather than being funny (a bit like Lenny Bruce did towards the end). Rich Hall was definitely the funniest of these shows, he had us both crying with laughter, and we have re-watched the show again since. Both droll and unexpected, marvellous stuff.

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the generals daughter (1992 ) - simon west

I saw this while away on holiday, and found parts of it (mainly John Travolta's) entertaining, but on the whole, pretty unbelievable. Travolta plays Paul Brenner, an investigating officer who ends up trying to find out what happened to Captain Elisabeth Campbell, who was found naked, dead, staked to the floor, and who also happens to be the Colonel's daughter. It was interesting, and had some twists, but the unlikelihood of the plot put me off. At the end credits (and probably because drink had been taken), it looked as though it was based on a true story, but it is actually from the novel by Nelson DeMille. Hollywood! Pah!

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back to the future trainers

Looking at trainers on ebay (OK, l know l am sad), l found these little beauties. They are not really my scene, as l mainly prefer the old school Puma and Adidas types, but these are being auctioned to raise money for Parkinson's disease through the Michael J Fox foundation. Only 1,500 pairs are being made so snap some up now!

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