photos from china - good, bad and strange

Photographs from China, good, bad and strange, taken from The Atlantic.
A place l would certainly  like to visit (China, not the Atlantic).

toodle pip

lemming (2005) - dominik moll

Lemming was a bit of a strange film, French and subtitled (no problem), but a bit slow and probably a bit too long. It certainly kept you guessing as to what the next turn of events would be, that's for sure. Starting off with the boss and his wife coming to tea, but then featuring a suicide, murder, sex, car crashes, hallucinations and ghostly possession. And that's without mentioning the Lemming/Lemmings. It would have been excellent if it was shorter and a bit faster paced (especially at the start), but it was still pretty interesting and certainly different (albeit with some throwbacks to Hitchcock). A pleasant surprise, as l didn't have any preconceptions or knowledge of the movie beforehand, so that was a result l was pleased with (unlike the football!).

toodle pip

the sale of the scream painting

The 1893 painting

The 1893 pastel

The 1895 pastel

The 1910 painting

The 1895 pastel of 'The Scream' by Edvard Munch has just been sold at Sotheby's for nearly $120 million. It's certainly an iconic painting, but l hate to think how much it would have sold for if there was only one of them, instead of the four. I also think it's a shame when items like this disappear into private collections, where the public don't get to see them. Saying that, if l was loaded, l'd buy all sorts of stuff and stash it away, well out of the way of Joe Public. Methinks it's just other rich people owning them that l don't like. Gits.
Anyway, l prefer the 1893 painting at the top.

toodle pip

heaven knows mr allison (1957) - john huston

An easy going and laid back performance is produced by both Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum, who star in 'Heaven Knows Mr Allison' as the nurse and marine stranded on a desert island during World War Two, and trying to avoid the Japanese that come ashore. Comparisons are made between his role as a marine, and hers as a nun, and they (obviously)  fall for each other, but there is no great big sloppy and unbelievable ending, which is an improvement on many films. A pleasant and relaxing way to pass the time, and it would have looked great in the cinema years ago (in CinemaScope!).

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talk about stating the bleeding obvious..

Gareth Williams, the MI6 code breaker who's body was found naked in a sports bag, which was padlocked (from the outside) and found in his bath, was 'on the balance of probabilities, unlawfully killed'.
I will repeat some of the earlier information.
He was in a sports bag, which was padlocked from the outside.
I think that is the crucial bit of evidence. Forget the naked bit, the MI6 bit, and the bath bit. I think there is a lot more of a chance than 'on the balance of probabilities' he was unlawfully killed.
Idiots.

toodle pip

pissed off after the football

Drowning my sorrows after the derby match. It's not the answer, but it helps a bit.
Sadly, l can now envisage a time when United don't win the league for another 20 odd years, unless there is a dramatic twist at the end of the season (which l very much doubt).
Pah, Bah and humbug.

Even the weather is miserable


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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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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