billy the kid playing croquet

The wedding scene above from 1878 doesn't look that interesting, and was bought in 2010 for $2 at an antique shop by Randy Guijarro. It has since been established that it features 'The Regulators'. and one of the guests is no other than Billy the Kid (see close up at the top).  Because of this, it may be worth millions, being only the second photograph of him known to exist.
My first thought was 'Jammy bugger'.  The second one was 'Billy the Kid' played croquet????.
Here's the other, well documented photograph, (owned by William Koch, who bought it for $2.3 million).

Here's the original fullshot, untouched.

.toodle pip

good job l got some new tyres

I've recently had two new front tyres put onto the car in preparation for it's MOT. I was going to wait for the MOT time, but when l parked up one evening, l noticed that one of them was actually down to the wire.
Oops!
Shows how much love and attention l pay to cars.

toodle pip

bastard spiders appearing from nowhere

My hatred of spiders knows no bounds, so when one appeared in the living room the other day, l managed to kill it, and left it on the wooden flooring in the living room as a warning to others (as you do).
Lo and behold, the next day one nearly gave me a heart attack by dropping from the light attached to the ceiling in the living room, so l chased it down and managed to kill that (and a smaller one that tried to ambush me).
So, imagine my surprise when another one came running from cover in the living room the next day (to also meet it's premature death). AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
Since then, l may be tempting fate, but the coast has been clear, and the dead spiders cleared away. l am however, a lot more on edge and unable to relax at the moment.
Bastard things (and they were bigger than they look in the photographs).

toodle pip

robert mitchum at the beach

I honestly don't spend every hour of my day looking at photographs of men on the beach, but on the odd occasion l do, it often pays off (and not in a happy ending kind of way).
Here's an old one of Robert Mitchum, a fine figure of a man, with a marvelous chest and shoulders, plus gazelle like, well toned legs (It's hard to believe l'm not gay sometimes).
However, the thing that l noticed the most, was his waist (or lack of it). How tiny is that?
It must have been a nightmare for him to buy clothes that fitted well.
Colour me impressed.

toodle pip

the hoover dam and saint thomas - with added sugar

I've been to (and stood on the edge of) The Hoover Dam, and it looked mightily impressive. However, l'd liked to have been there recently (alright, a few years ago!), because there had been a severe drought. Because of this, the waters had been receding, and exposed the old Mormon pioneer town of Saint Thomas, which was covered over by the Colorado river when the damn was built.
Now that would be an interesting thing to see, and maybe the last opportunity to do so.
The last two photo collages are from here.



toodle pip

a russian takeaway

After the earlier post about Ronaldo's lunch, one of the many sites l frequent is run by a slightly crazy Russian guy. This is a picture of his takaway, a mixture of yummy heart attack inducing foodstuffs with some slightly dodgier looking items (if that's possible). I bet his physique is slightly different from Ronaldo's.
As it was about 3am when l saw it, l was too late to order myself a takeaway, but it sure made me peckish.

toodle pip

the dylan quiz

Think you know your Bob Dylan from your Dylan Thomas?
Try the Dylan quiz
Here's my result, which l must admit l was disappointed with.
                                         
toolde pip

poetry in bootle

When l was reading about the early career of Peter Hooton, (from The Farm and the magazine 'The End') l came across this statement.
As l child of 1970's Bootle, l can certainly believe it.



toodle pip

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.

toodle pip

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.



toodle pip

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).

toodle pip

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.

toodle pip

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!

toodle pip

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.......



toodle pip

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. 

toodle pip

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).

toodle pip

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.

toodle pip

careful with your holiday snaps

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

toodle pip