the endeavour space shuttle transfer

This must have been pretty amazing to see, with a side order of surreal thrown in for good measure.  The Space Shuttle Endeavour has completed it's last flight, so has been moved from LAX (Los Angeles) Airport to it's new home at the Californian Science Centre in Exposition Park.  Along the route, it had to travel very, very  slowly, as it could only just fit past some of the houses and trees, and overhead wires and some signs had to be dismantled.  It's something you don't get to see on an everyday occurrence, that's for sure.
The photographs are from The LA Times and more details of the day by day transportation can also be found on their page.

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starbucks pays no tax

This is the sort of stuff that pisses me off when we are 'All in it together'.  I get sick of going on about how the Tories look after the rich, but there's more about the Starbucks tax avoidance at Channel 4 news here.  Boycott them and their stinking overpriced cups of froth (and eat the rich). 'All in it together' my arse.

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cowboys and aliens (2011) - jon favreau

Cowboys? And Aliens?  In the same film, and with Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig?

Bring it on!  Much better than l expected (which wasn't a lot).  Based on the graphic novel.

toodle pip.

gandhi (1982) - richard attenborough

Based on facts (but embellished a bit), Gandhi features a superb performance by Ben Kingsley as the titular hero, who preaches non violence as he gains independence for India from us nasty English. There's strikes, fights, shootings, boycotts and rebellion, as the English try to deal with actions they have no real defence against. The scenery was stunning and the filming of the funeral (Gandhi dies) looked amazing.  The film rightly gained a lot of praise (and honours) upon it's release (I am way behind the times), and rightly so, it's an epic all right, but in the good sense, not a sprawling mess that is too long and boring, like others l have suffered over the years.  Kingsley makes you believe you could easily kick the crap out of him in this, yet in 'Sexy Beast' he is frighteningly manic and unpredictable.  The sign of an outstanding actor.

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the daily mail, hypocrisy, and the stars

The Daily Mail is having a go at John Peel at the moment because he had sex with (and allegedly got pregnant), a 15 year old girl.  Peel has been open about his sexual exploits in the past, and this is nothing new. However, the implicit fact in the story is that she was only 15, under age, and should not be treated as a sex object.  But what is the other story in the same paper?  Only photographs and a statement about how fit Chloe Moretz, another 15 year old is looking.  Talk about double standards and hypocrisy.  On a similar note, Jimmy Savile is getting a (probably well deserved)  kicking at the moment due to all the allegations against him.  Non of these have been proven yet, and a lot of what l have read is hearsay, and therefore couldn't be acted upon at the time.  I wouldn't trust Savile any further than l could throw him, but l also don't believe everyone that has come forward is telling the truth, and some of the 'revelations' are just scraping the barrel   He is an easy target because he was odd and is dead, but while stars are living, it seems to be the 'strange' ones the press go for, such as Jonathan King or Gary Glitter (or in the Mail's case, BBC institutions like Peel).  What about other stars that have pretty damning evidence against them?  I'm not just thinking of Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones, or Elvis Presley and his courting habits, but of rock gods such as Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, who targeted Lori Maddox when she was a child model, arranged to meet her, and started a relationship with her.  All of this while he was an international star, and Maddox was 13, possibly 14. Targeting and taking advantage?  I certainly think so.  Is it all over the papers?  Is it fuck.  There will be plenty more stars who have skeletons in their closets, and this is sometimes used as the defence of 'not everybody can be prosecuted', but some cases certainly stand out from the rest, and nothing is done, because they are 'liked,' 'cool' or 'respected'. Then you also get other stars wanting to defend them and work with them, such as with Roman Polanski, or they have some kind of power, and everyone turns a blind eye, as it seems to be with the Savile case, or the recent Penn State University one. The papers should stop chasing after the strange and dead (such as King, Glitter and Peel) and do something about the living, if they are that bothered, otherwise they can stop pretending they are. What a load of crap, and if crap and dodgy stuff is what you are into, Ed Savitz (now dead) was the man to go and see.  He certainly knew what he liked.

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jumping from space

So, Felix Baumgartner managed to do his dive from the edge of space and back to Earth in one piece, and the edited video above shows just how high (just over 24 miles) up he was, and how impressive it looked.  It's a remarkable thing to do, and is unlikely to be beaten, but it also made me think about the astronauts that risked their lives travelling further out into the great unknown.  The most famous ones are the Apollo 11 crew of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, who were the first ones to successfully go to the Moon, land, and then return (although Collins did not go onto the surface).  If you are so inclined, the item below is for sale at RR Auctions.  It is signed by all three Apollo 11 astronauts, and is a snip at just over $1,500 at present.  This is one of the many times when l should be loaded, so l can fill up the house with more junk.  Saying that, if l was stinking rich, l'd have a go at doing the jump myself.  Anyone can jump, it's the landing you have to worry about..

Phew!  I have managed to do the whole piece without going for the obvious 'The Man Who Fell To Earth.'

Damn!

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old horror movie posters

I love the old horror movies, and l am a sucker for a decent poster, so these hit the nail right on the head. They are on display at the Mondo Gallery in Austin, Texas and are also for sale, at quite reasonable prices.  Look here if you are interested in buying one or visiting the gallery.

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giant eyeball found on beach

This is just the kind of thing you don't want to find floating next to you when you are out for a swim.  If anything is going to make you crap your pants while swimming (that doesn't involve a shark), it's turning around in the water and having this staring back at you.  The eyeball was washed up on a beach in Florida, and is assumed to be that of a Swordfish, that had been cut out and thrown away by fishermen.  Nice.

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drunks a plenty falling over

Drunks - Don't you just love them?

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old facebook photographs

 Looking young and cool with my old leather jacket (I rode a motorbike at the time)

A Rolling Stones banner l stole from the Newcastle gig and later sold at Sotheby's for about £400.  I had to borrow a knife from a Hells Angel, climb up the scaffolding and cut it down, roll it up, make sure l gave the knife back, then nonchalantly stroll out with it under my arm.  Luckily l also had some sticky access passes, so l could have been mistaken for a roadie.  This is outside Stocky's house in Colburn.

 On top of the garage in the house l shared with some other lads, drinking home made booze.  With me are Bainsey (Jim Pierce) and Lammy (Paul Lambert).  Also on display is the Colburn Popular Front flag, which went with us to festivals.  

The skinny me, probably posing during The James Herriot half marathon as it was around Catterick and Richmond, and went past Colburn near the end.  On a good day, l could run 10 miles in about 55 minutes, and a half marathon in about one hour 15 minutes.  Now it would be one day 15 minutes.

While l was at work on Saturday, a colleague told me that she had seen old photographs of me on some Facebook pages (I won't say the names).  While checking out one of the sites this evening, these ones were amongst the beauties that popped up.  Although probably hundreds of photographs were taken of me about this time ( l'm not exaggerating), l have only got about three of them, so this was a pleasant surprise and a bit of a shock (although it was also only a matter of time before they started appearing).  I can't believe how skinny l was when l was doing a lot of running (half marathons), and the FPO is now cursing she didn't meet me earlier, as she just got the sad, fat, old and bitter version of the above.  If (or when) l eventually go insane and turn into a serial killer, certain people will make a fortune selling photographs of me. Stocky alone will be able to retire with the amount he has.  I bet he is just biding his time, waiting for me to crack and start my rampage.

toodle pip

the colburn lodge is still for sale

Thinking about dodgy places (after the last post), this sprang to mind.  The Colburn Lodge, a much loved Catterick and Colburn pub, has been closed for over a year and is still for sale.  It had been bought, but is now back on the market for some reason.  I only hope it was bought with the idea of knocking it down and building residential properties on the site, but the proposal had been rejected.  I, (amongst many others) hope it opens again as a pub, especially with all the new houses being constructed nearby.  It's an iconic landmark around these parts that used to be heaving when Big John ran it and 60 Squadron were based over the road. At the moment, it's just a waste, and probably deteriorating rapidly.  We will have plenty of houses soon, but hardly anywhere to go.  This building should be listed and preserved.

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dodgy people in the arc

'The Arc'  Sports and Social Club in Colburn, Catterick Garrison, is a pub/club actually called 'The Hanson', (but everyone calls it 'The Arc').  It  is a place l sometimes descend upon to watch the football and have a crack on with some of the locals.  To describe most of them as working class scumbags (like myself) would be an understatement.  Here are three of them, demonstrating the effects that frequenting The Arc on a regular basis has on you. They are Ian, Jacket and Dogface.  I have only called Ian by his proper name as l can't remember his nickname (Gimmy? Dummy? it's something.. mmy) and l can't be bothered phoning anybody to find out, but pretty much everyone has a nickname, including me. All are (as you can imagine) pretty crazy, but also sound lads as well. Rachel (Jacket's missus, known as Mrs Jacket) now even runs the place as Cav/Kav/Mr K/Irish Jimmy (all the same person) has retired. This (sad to say) is one of the environments l thrive in, as, living across the road for years, putting the hours in with the nuttiness, drinking and drugs, (plus being devilishly handsome, good at football and pool, bright and funny), l have earnt my spurs. There is a large residential development just about to start behind the club, and lots more families will be moving in and living near it.  Some of them are in for a shock when they head out to their new local for the first time.   Before you wonder, no doctors or lawyers drink in the place, and l can't see that changing in the near future.  Recommended on a Sunday morning when the football team are playing at home, and the drinks are cheap.

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liverpool v manchester united 1968

This is where l was 44 years ago to this very day.  Living in Liverpool (Bootle) and going to see Liverpool play Manchester United with my Uncle Ray.  Bliss indeed, and it was made sweeter by the Football League Review having a poster of Manchester United in its middle pages.  I have a larger copy of it framed, and another one based on it framed, containing Manchester United's 'Team For All Seasons' in the spare room next to this very computer.  I also have a long suffering FPO (but you can get cream for that nowadays).
Just a shame that United got beat 2-0, as they were starting their slow descent from being Kings of Europe to losing 1-0 against Oxford United in the Second Division (I was there again), as Liverpool went on to conquer all before them, until United's unbelievable resurgence under the magnificent management of Sir Alex Ferguson.  It's been wine and roses for the last few years, but l had to put up with a lot of stick during the 1970's and 1980's. Let's hope those dark days don't return.

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out and about in masham

While l was at work yesterday, l ended up with an hour to kill in Masham, so l did what any right minded person would do.  I had a look around, checked out the church, and then went to the pub.  Nothing that exciting, but at least l was getting paid for it (it's a hard life etc).  The stained glass window in the church looked great, and The White Bear pub is famous for it's connection with The Black Sheep Brewery.  The pub also used to have a load of Jethro Tull stuff, including the broadsword, which used to be on the ceiling in the early 1980's, as one of Tull (or a roadie/manager) used to own or manage the place (if l remember correctly).  I used to frequent the pub years ago, and have had some excellent evenings in there (some drink was maybe involved), but it has been refurbished since then.  Also popular with the Fairport Convention  / Lindisfarne contingents as well as many other folkie types.  Bloody hippies.

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jimmy savile - now then now then

This is probably all over the place at the moment, but it is still funny.  Jimmy Savile's grave goes walkies.

As for the allegations about him, this is the latest news.

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bolan's back! the childlike men single

The Bopping Elf himself, Marc Bolan, has returned with a new single (if they are still called singles nowadays). He was never shy about regurgitating riffs, formulas and ideas, but this track sounds uncannily  like a lot of his earlier T.Rex stuff when he was at his peak.  It's kind of annoying because you want to hear the originals, but l also like it, and am pleased there is something else of his to listen to, that does sound like a track from the early 1970's (and take me back to the good bits of my childhood).
It's actually been cobbled together by Tony Visconti and his son Morgan, using old studio recordings from the sessions Tony recorded with Bolan back in the day as part of the T.Rex 'Regeneration' project.  It may well be scrapping the barrel, but on the other hand, what else can they do?  After all, Boley was still dead the last time l checked.
If the rest of the stuff is going to be as good as this, then Hurrah!! (and drinks all round).  If not, stick out some live recordings instead. Either way, l'll still want them.
The amount of love l had for Bolan when l was younger does not bear thinking about.

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