winchester 73 (1950) - anthony mann

One of the classic black and white westerns, Winchester 73 concerns sibling rivalry and revenge, the Indian threat (and their treatment), and the ownership of the eponymous rifle (the 'one in a thousand'). Lin McAdam (James Stewart) travels to Dodge City (where Wyatt Earp is the sheriff), and wins a shooting competition hosted to celebrate the USA centenary of independence(1876). It is then stolen from him by the runner up in the competition, Dutch Henry Brown (Stephen McNally), and passes through various hands, until it is once again in the hands of Dutch, resulting in a shoot out at the end (you could have anticipated that) between Lin and Dutch (and guess who wins). There is an early film role for Tony Curtis, and Rock Hudson gets to play an Indian chief, Young Bull. Did I mention Dutch Henry and Lin are brothers, and Dutch Henry had shot and killed their father? Of course he did (he's a bad 'un). Shelly Winters is Lola, the feisty love interest, who also plays a mean piano. Marvellous stuff, and it takes me back to the old fleapit on a Saturday morning in Bootle when l was a kid (many, way too many years ago).

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oscar the dog peeing while doing a handstand

Reminds me of my mums old dog (Cromwell), who used to poo up trees. Sadly, l don't have a video of that.

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another northern lights picture

Another great picture of the Northern Lights, taken by Ole Christian Salomonsen in Norway. I don't think l will ever get bored of seeing photographs of them.

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max schreck lounging during the filming of nosferatu

Max Schreck still looks pretty creepy even when he is 'relaxing' during the filming of Nosferatu (1922). He is brilliant in it, and his performance has been much copied ever since.

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le serpent (2006) - eric barbier

Another one of those French films with subtitles l just can't get enough of. Le Serpent is a psychological thriller, concerning an old schoolboy prank that went wrong, and the victim, Joseph Plender, (Clovis Cornillac), trying to have his revenge on Vincent Mandell (Yvan Attal), his former classmate, who is in the process of going through a divorce. There are plenty of plot twists and lots of violence, but the only gripe l had with the film is that it could have been a bit shorter. Don't get me wrong though, it's well worth watching. Those crazy French!

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a superhero you don't want to meet in a dark alley

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

This is sooooooooooooo wrong.

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cyclops shark

This fetal cyclops shark was cut from the belly of a pregnant one in the Gulf of California. Spooky little critter. More information here.

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some (very) close up pictures

The head of a mosquito

A black widow spiders foot

The foot of a fly

One word for all these - Urrgghhhh

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midnight cowboy (1969) - john schlesinger

One of the best films of all time (IMHO), Midnight Cowboy tells the tale of Joe Buck, an innocent would be hustler (John Voight), coming to New York, where he hopes to make his fortune by being a Gigalo. Things do not go according to plan, and he then falls in with Enrico 'Ratso' Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), an ill vagrant and streetwise hustler, who rips him off at first, before they eventually form a partnership of sorts. There are also flashback scenes which show Joe and his girlfriend being raped, which led to his girlfriend being institutionalised, Joe joining the army, and his grandmother (who raised him) dying while he was away, before he headed to New York. Times get hard (Unlike Joe in one scene) as Rizzo and Joe try to make a living, and just as Joe gets some work and is recommended to others, Rizzo's illness gets worse, so they head to Florida for a better life. Both Hoffman and Voight are excellent in this (especially Hoffman), and the soundtrack is top notch. There is the odd scene which really dates the film, but overall, it is superb. It also ends with Hoffman leaving on a bus with his partner, and the bus passengers looking at them, just as he did in 'The Graduate' (but with a different outcome).

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the victorians - jeremy paxman (featuring richard dadd)

The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke

Richard Dadd

The Queen album with the song on

Although l have not seen the TV series of this, l enjoyed the book, and it did exactly what it said on the cover, interpreted The Victorians through the painting of that age. I am curious to know how much work Paxman actually put into the book, as l bet pretty much all of it would have been done by the researchers (he admits himself that he is just a 'keen amateur'.) Amongst the painters, Richard Dadd is probably my favourite. Lets face it, what's not to like about a man who cracks up, kills his father (thinking him to be the Devil), is then put away in a lunatic asylum (but allowed to paint (over nine years) such great works as 'The Feller's Fellows Master Stroke', (which l first discovered through the song by Queen in 1974). Mad geniuses - we need more of them (Dadds, not Paxman).

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les valseuses (1974) - bertrand blier

Les Valseuses (slang for waltzers/testicles) was released as Going Places in the UK, and stars Gerard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere as a couple of bad boys getting into trouble, stealing cars, and trying to have sex with people. The film pushes the boundaries in a couple of places, and can be shocking in places, but l liked it (because l like that sort of thing). They pick up a hairdresser (Miou-Miou) along the way, then a released female prisoner, then her son, then get into more trouble. It's hard to say whether there is a happy ending (OK, l don't think so), as the film ends with a number of options. They carry on to do more mischief, they crash in the tunnel, or they are in the car that they had previously doctored (but with a different number plate). The audience gets to decide. In French with subtitles.

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great artwork on the columbian protesters

It took me a couple of minutes just to work out how they had done this. Brilliant stuff and a great idea.

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george best and 21 others - colin shindler

Although Colin Shindler is a Manchester City supporter (he also wrote Manchester United ruined my life), l will forgive (and pity) him for that, as he was pretty even handed in his analysis of the players in this book. It concerns the teams (United and City) that played in the 1964 Youth Cup semi final, and what happened to their careers and lives afterwards. Everyone knows what happened to George of course, but most of the other tales are pretty much unknown. It does highlight what a cruel game football can be, especially back in those days when the money was poor and you were more or less at the mercy of your club. Recommended.

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songs of america 1969 - simon and garfunkel

This was not that great a documentary of Simon and Garfunkel, but it had some good clips of them rehearsing, and some great live footage from the 1969 tour. This was back when Paul Simon could still write a decent song, and Artie still had the voice of an angel. A show I would definitely liked to have seen years ago, as l wouldn't be that bothered about seeing them now (unless it was cheap and down the end of our street). Just think, the people at these shows were hearing 'Bridge over troubled water' for the first time, as it had just been written. Jammy bastards.

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london boulevard (2010) - william monahan

London Boulevard was pretty much as l expected it to be, although l was (foolishly and naively) hoping for a lot more. It's a gangster film full of cliches, where Mitchell (Colin Farrell), is released from Pentonville after being banged up for three years. He tries to go on the old straight and narrow, but (of course), gets sucked back into having to deal with gangsters, especially the daddy of the firm, Rob Gant (Ray Winstone playing his usual hard man role). On his first day of release, Mitchell gets given a place to live in, scares off some crooks by being cool and hard looking, has a party in his honour, then defends his sisters honour and decks someone. He then gets offered a job protecting Charlotte, a reclusive actress (Keira Knightley). He certainly fitted in a lot before he even had time to get his head down and take stock of his situation, but l guess that's how it must work in gangster land. Anyhows, the characters are all predictable, there's a lot of Laaaandan accents, violence, intimidation and crooked cops. Oh, and guess whether the star he is protecting falls in love with him.

Correctumundo!!!

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jimmy saville gets up close with the nolans

Uncle Jimmy gets close to the 14 year old Nolan on TOTP. He's done a lot of work for charidee but this looks a bit dodgy (about 3.45 m in).

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kajagoogoo return!

Just look at the state of their hair! Very sad indeed.

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endangered rhinos being moved

These black rhinos are being airlifted (after being sedated of course) to a safer area of South Africa, resulting in their safety and some great photos. The middle picture could be used for an album cover.

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a murmuration of starlings

This video just gets better as it goes along. Those crazy starlings look amazing and it must have been great to be so close to them.

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