the blood moon - crappy photographs ahoy!

My rather crappy photographs of the recent 'Blood Moon'.  The sky was really clear and free from light (up on the moors), but as you can tell, my camera is shite at taking night time photographs.
You can't tell from the above pics, but the moon looked really impressive, and to me, seemed a lot closer to Earth, and more of a rounded shape, highlighting the fact that we have such a rock orbiting the planet at such close quarters, and reinforcing how magical space is (bloody hippy that l am).
I've nearly finished reading 'Moondust' (by Andrew Smith), about the various missions to the moon, and looking at it that night, it reminded me of the bravery of the astronauts and how often the missions were so close to failure (and some obviously did fail, with drastic consequences).
An amazing feat (and yes - l do believe men landed there!).

The picture below was not taken by me, but this is how the moon looked up on t'moors.

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god song - gavin clark and toydrum

Featured in 'This is England 1990', one of the best songs l have ever had the good fortune to hear - God song, by Gavin Clark, on the soon to be released Toydrum album 'Evangelist'.
It's more than a pity that Gavin Clark is no longer around to reap the plaudits, but he's left a fine body of work to delve into.

Here's his splendid version of The Smiths 'Please please let me get what l want', from the end of an earlier 'This is England' (when he was in Clayhill).
He sure knew how to emote.



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ronaldo's lunch

Ever wondered what Ronaldo has for lunch?  Wonder no more, as he has handily put up an instagram photograph of it.
It makes my cheese on toast look rather pathetic (even with added Horseradish).

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the rather fabulous squatty potty advert

Trust me - l don't require any assistance to poop, but this advert is so good, my money is in the post.

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l knew l'm not colour blind - eye of an eagle!

While arguing at work about colours, l'm obviously convinced my views are right (as l am with just about everything). After doing a recent test to see if l could notice slight changes in colour, apparently my vision is superb, and l have the eye of an eagle.
Hurrah!

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jeremy kyle appearance

Genius!

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dr faustusaus and nick cave - red right hand

The words are from the rather excellent song by Nick Cave (from Let Love In), but the artwork is by DrFaustusAU.
As far as l know he hasn't made it into a full book yet, but he should. It's like a Hammer House of Horrors cartoon Cat in the Hat (always a good thing).
Lots more of the doctors artwork can be found here.

If you are not aware of the song  - fear not.......



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photographing lunatics with hugh diamond

At one time, the study of physiognomy was widespread, and one of the early pioneers in photography, doctor Hugh Welch Diamond, took photographs of his patients at the Women's Surrey County Lunatic Asylum between 1848 - 1858, hoping that they may be helped on the way to recovery by looking at their own photographs, realising and discussing how they presented themselves.
Of course we realise now that it is nonsense, but it was taken seriously for a long time, and let's face it, most people judge others within seconds by the way they look and present themselves (including me).
Here are some photographs of some of the ladies, and one of Mr Diamond himself.
Rather sadly, although Mr Diamond may have been a fine, upstanding example of morality, looking at some of the women, l would put good money on the fact that they would have been physically and sexually abused, probably outside in the community before entering the asylum or while they were incarcerated within it.
A cynical view?  Maybe, but a correct one in my estimation.
For more information about this, and some more photographs, go here.

Here's Mr Diamond, and below are some of the women. 

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my memory of ken dodd opening the new strand may be wrong

I've always thought that l was at The New Strand in Bootle when it opened in 1968. I remember Ken Dodd being there and getting tickled with his tickling stick (simmer down at the back), but it turns out l could be mistaken.
After much searching on the internet, l think it was the Mayor of Bootle who opened The Strand, while Ken Dodd opened Tesco's (in The Strand), if the information below is to believed.
I hate being wrong about anything, but either way, Manchester United had just won The European Cup, and l still got tickled (and have never been the same since).

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the elongated springsteen

I can't get my head around this photograph of Bruce Springsteen  playing to the audience and being his over dramatic and charismatic self from many moons ago. As far as l know, it hasn't been photoshopped, but there is no way that Springsteen was that tall and skinny, even back in the day. I understand that the kids at the front are pretty small, and the shot is taken from a strange angle, but it still confuses me (and unfortunately, l don't know who took the photo).
Then again - maybe l'm just an idiot.

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careful with your holiday snaps

Going away on holiday?
Be careful when your are taking your snaps.

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my personality test results

After taking the test based on Carl Jung and Isabel Briggs Myer's typological approach to personality, l am apparently an INTP type. The 16 types are below, along with some of my results.

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Now, much as l usually poo poo a lot of counselling ideas, l must admit, this has pretty much summed me up, and it turns out that l may have the same personality type as Carl Jung himself.

Then again, it could all still be hogwash, and l'm pretty sure that if l did the test again, just putting down any old answers at random, l would still get a readout that would probably apply to me.

Still, l'm prepared to admit that the result was still a lot closer than l expected.

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lee griggs' portrait modeling experiment

Go on - admit it.  These look pretty damn good, and there's more where these came from.
Check out Lee Griggs' site to see more abstract goodies, of various shapes and sizes.

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collecting vinyl

A cartoon l can certainly relate to.

And on a related note......

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vietnam footage coupled with the rolling stones' gimme shelter (and paul hardcastle's '19')

What can l say?
A great song with moving footage. Rather them than me, and remember, the average age of those fighting was 19.



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