some menfolk from the american civil war

General Adelbert Ames

Abraham Lincoln

General Robert E Lee

General Stonewall Jackson

John Wilkes Booth

 General George Armstrong Custer

 General Ulysses S Grant

General Ambrose Burnside

In the days when men were men, and had great facial hair to prove it, here are some striking images of some of the key figures of American history, mainly around the American Civil War.
That's it really, Custer looks pretty determined, and Lincoln looks insane, but nothing more to add (for the moment).

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30 days of night (red snow) - ben templesmith

I had never heard of '30 days of night - Red Snow' (by Ben Templesmith) before l nabbed this from the local library, and although l enjoyed it, it would have been a lot better if l had known the back story. This concerns vampires, troops from Russia and Germany, the Eastern Front in 1941, and lots of deaths. Good, but l'm not that bothered about reading the rest of the series.  Still, what else can a poor boy do?

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distant drums (1951) - raoul walsh

A 'classic' from 1951, l saw 'Distant Drums' for the first time the other day, and l have to say, l thought it was crap.  Gary Cooper is the army captain who flees some Seminole Indians through the Everglades, while an (obviously younger) woman falls for his no nonsense charms.  A major complaint is that the colour changed half way through, so the army uniforms changed from blue to green (unless l had a stroke or something).  The fort of Castillo de San Marcos looked impressive,  the snake Cooper threatened the Indian with looked rubbish,  but the film also featured the first use of the 'Wilhelm Scream', as a soldier got dragged down by a gator, so it wasn't a complete waste of time, (even if it was still a huge waste).

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putting gays behind electrified fences because "Im agin it"

Much as l am loathe to give this tosspot publicity, this has to be heard in all it's idiotic glory. It's from Pastor Charles L Worley from North Carolina, and he is, without doubt, one of the most stupid, ignorant and unchristian preachers l have ever heard.
The 'queers' will die out if they are locked up behind electrified fences will they?   Where does this brainless sack of crap think they came from in the first place?  Other queers/ lesbians / homosexuals??
Heterosexuals, that's where.
Sometimes it's too easy to take the piss out of idiots, but the scary thing is, people in his congregation follow and believe him.
Where's another Waco when you want one?

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hedgehog and carrots

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh   how cute. A hedgehog with his head stuck in an old tin of carrots. Currently residing at East Winch Wildlife Centre, near Kings Lynn in Norfolk.

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tubbs and his stinking arse

This is Tubbs the idiot rabbit about a week or so ago, with crap stuck to his arse. You'll be glad to know it has been cut off, cleaned, and kissed for good luck (maybe not the last one).
It's about time we got a goldfish, l think we are slaves to the animals we have.

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joel burns speech - it gets better

I have already posted this in 2010, but myself and the FPO watched it again today, and it is well worth repeating.   One of the most emotional 10 minute speeches going.   Joel Burns is openly gay city councilman from Fort Worth in Texas and he is talking after some youth suicides due to gay bullying.

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otis redding - cool man - cool shirt

Exactly what it says on the tin - Otis Redding was one cool mutha of a man, and here he is wearing a pretty cool t-shirt (featuring Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band).

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the bridge (bron / broen) tv series (2011)

As the FPO has been off work this week, it has given us a chance to catch up with some of the stuff on the Sky+ box, one of which has been the series 'The Bridge'. A joint Danish and Swedish production (known also as Bron and Broen), this was ten one hour episodes of pure class. A woman is found on the Oresunde    Bridge between Denmark and Sweden, and it turns out that it is two separate women, cut in half. The two police forces have to work together to try and find the killer, who then starts putting out messages on the internet, and uses a reporter to relay messages. The two people heading the investigation are the polar opposites of one another. Martin Rohde  (Kim Bodnia) is a jovial philandering man trying to unite his (current) family, while Saga Noren (Sofia Helin) is a serious straight talking woman who finds it difficult to relate socially (probably due to some aspect of Autism / Aspergers). Of course they have to learn to get along and trust each other, but there is lots more to it. Lots, lots more. Like 'The Killing', it kept the levels of suspense up all the way through, the acting and writing was great, and it had you guessing at various outcomes with each passing episode. Superb.
Next up - Borgen!

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maggots on a live person

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the iron railway bridge at catterick bridge

 Looking towards the bridge from the Catterick Bridge area

 A closer view

 Looking back towards Catterick Bridge and Catterick Racecourse

Close by and the River Swale is visible

 Under the bridge (as The Red Hot Chili Peppers would have said)

The fencing and gate

The bridge - earlier today

When l was younger, l used to paint caravans at Catterick Caravans, which is situated between Catterick Bridge and the entry to the A1 North. As l was still outrageously fit in those (long gone) days, l used to run to work from Colburn. In fact not only did l used to run there in the morning, l also ran back to Colburn for lunch, back to work again afterwards, and then home after work (to play football in the evening). All these journeys involved running across the Iron Railway Bridge at Catterick Bridge, which was a pretty risky thing to do even all of those years ago, as the crossing consisted of rotten wood covering the steel girders, so you certainly had to watch where you were placing the clod hoppers, especially in the dark and wintery mornings.
As l was driving by it today, l had an urge to have a wander over and see how the old structure is doing. As you can see, it is still standing, but gated up due to the dangers - Health and Safety gone mad.
Ah, all that stuff seems soooooooooooooooooooooooooo long ago now, as though it was a different world (probably because it was).

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the robe (1953) posters - henry coster

A pretty crap film (a bad Roman wins Jesus's robe, then converts), but the posters for 'The Robe' have a certain look about them, especially the heavily altered one at the top. I've  never seen Richard Burton looking so smooth (and no doubt, never will again).

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lo non ho paura (I'm not scared) - gabriele salvatores (2003)

A beautifully shot Italian film, Io Non Ho Paura (I'm not scared) has a nine year old boy finding another boy in a hole, out in the countryside. He befriends him and brings him food, and discovers his own father (and his fathers friends) had kidnapped him and are holding him to ransom. That's about the gist of it. As l said before, the sweeping shots are beautifully done, but there is not that much tension, apart from the odd moments. The story itself could have been realised better, but you certainly can't fault the look.

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some famous guns

As it says on the photograph, the revolver used by Jack Ruby to kill Lee Harvey Oswald 

The guns used in the Columbine shootings by Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. 

The rifle that Lee Harvey Oswald used to kill John F Kennedy (if you believe that he was responsible)

From The New Yorker

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the birmingham selfridges store by jason hawkes

This picture is the first time l have set eyes on the Selfridges store in Birmingham, and l am pretty damn impressed by it. I never realised that such a shop front existed, and it is one of the coolest buildings (designed by Future Systems) l have ever seen. It's nearly worth a trip down to Birmingham just to see it in the flesh (so to speak).
Another one of Jason Hawkes night time ariel photographs.

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the conspirator (2010) -robert redford

The Conspirator tells the true story of  Mary Surratt, the first woman to be hanged in America, for her involvement in the Abraham Lincoln assassination in 1865. Although there are the odd embellishments, it is a pretty accurate representation of what happened, and it was certainly interesting, as plenty of the source material (the actual transcripts, old photos etc) are available and easy to reference. I didn't realise this film had been recorded (it was at work), so it was a pleasant surprise stumbling accross it, and resulted in a pleasant, (albeit late to bed) night. Not an outstanding film by any stretch of the imagination, but l am glad l have seen it.
As a footnote, John Surratt, Mary's son who went missing, fled to Liverpool and hid there for a while, so my relatives may have met him. Unlikely l'll admit, but there is a chance.

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batman - going sane - jm dematteis

Another recent (ish) graphic novel, and a pretty fine one at that. Joker thinks he has killed Batman, so he then becomes sane (ish), meets a girl, and wants to settle down. Meanwhile, Batman slowly recovers, and then comes looking for him. Marvellous stuff.

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