A new Beatles statue by Andrew Edwards has been unveiled on Liverpool's Pier Head by John Lennon's sister, Julia Baird, and the deputy mayor of Liverpool.
It is looking towards Ireland and the United States, and at least it looks like them, unlike some earlier efforts.
The United States' largest destroyer, the USS Zumwalt, is heading out into the Atlantic for sea trials.
It looks pretty impressive, state of the art, and space age (or a council block of flats like The Byker Wall), but the best thing about it, is that the captain is called.......wait for it..............Captain James Kirk.
His parents must have had a sense of humour, but surely (don't call me Shirley), due to nominative determinism, he was always destined to have that kind of job.
More about this story here.
Spot the original one below. Clue - one is minus the 'T'.
As a fan of pretty much all things Lou Reed wise (discounting Metal Machine Music), and a lot of the Andy Warhol stuff, the death of Holly Woodlawn on Sunday was another addition to that great art collective in the sky.
Don't know who she is? Only the 'Holly came from Miami FLA' in Lou Reed's 'Walk on the Wild Side', one of the greatest singles of all time, which reached the giddy heights of #10 in the UK charts back in 1972. 'Little Joe' is still alive, but he's the last one of those mentioned in the song that is still alive now.
Luckily, there's still John Cale, Moe Tucker and Doug Yule left from The Velvet Underground.
Enjoy them while you can. More about Holly here.
Well l never! I didn't realise until last week that Bon Scott, the original singer of AC/Dc, used to be in a band called The Valentines. I always thought that he was AC/DC's driver, who then took over vocal duties, but The Valentines have never been on my radar, despite loving the early AC/DC stuff and seeing them live many times.
Also....Nice hair.
I was reading some old newspapers recently (as you do) when l saw this apology in The Sunday Mirror for an earlier article about Lee Rigby's fiancee having a relationship with one of his army pals. No doubt the original story would have been plastered all over the front page, but most people who read it would not have realised how incorrect it was.
As l've never read the original story, l don't know how much of it was true, but going by the (very small) apology, it seems not a lot.
No wonder l never take anything at face value.
I'm a fan of both David Bowie and Scott Walker, and found the clip below pretty moving. Even though it is a few years old, it has only recently come to my attention, so bear with me.
It's Bowie's 50th birthday, and people are paying their tributes to him. Now Bowie is normally a pretty cool character, and usually keeps his emotions well hidden, but he obviously fails to do so with the Scott Walker message.
Tears may even have been shed during the pause.
"He really got to me there, l'm afraid"
While I still don't agree with the air strikes against Syria, l will admit that Hilary Benn's speech in favour of the strikes was particularly well thought out and persuasive, deserving of the applause.
It also confirmed my loathing for David Cameron, when the prospect of him apologising to Jeremy Corbyn for calling Corbyn a terrorist sympathiser was suggested, as Cameron's weasily smile and smug look to his colleague confirmed to me (as if it needed confirming) that he is a spoon fed arrogant patronising toff of the worst kind. If l'm reading too much into that look, so be it. l'll take my chances that l have summed him up correctly, or at least to the best of my abilities without a private education behind me.
Twat.
I've been catching up on 'You Me, And The Apocalypse' on Sky recently, and without giving anything away, 'There's A Storm A Coming' by Richard Hawley was used at the end of a recent episode, to great effect, fitting the dramatic conclusion of the particular storyline perfectly.
It was also featured in the recent version of 'Brighton Rock', and l nearly posted about the song after seeing that, but never got around to it (things to do, fish to fry etc).
Myself and a friend (Powlie - l'm thinking of you) argue all the time about who first introduced the other to Richard Hawley (obviously l introduced him), and Cole's Corner is still one of my favourite albums, so to hear Mr Hawley enhancing my movie watching experience, is obviously an added bonus for me.
To make up for my tardiness, here's two versions of the song, one live, and one from the Brighton Rock soundtrack, which features the heavier version l (and film makers) am so enamoured with.
It builds up after about 2.30m.
Superb stuff - expect to hear it in lots of adverts soon.
Here's an interesting short video of how the Syrian conflict has played out over the last few years, and how, to any right seeing individual, it can easily escalate into a much larger conflict.
It's a mess, and l'm not sure what the answer is myself, but l do know that bombing areas in the Middle East, with the unavoidable deaths of innocent men, women and children, is only going to radicalise more extremists, and put the western nations at greater immediate and long term risk, not less. As a start, I'd probably go for sanctions, and preventing / persuading other countries not to buy ISIS / ISIL oil or support them, and try to get the neighbouring countries to sort it out,but l can't see that happening in the in the near future, if at all.
I've said it before, but I'd rather have more freedom and take the risks involved, and show we are a caring encompassing nation that welcomes other races and religions, promoting free speech, as long as it is not preaching hatred and violence. It's already illegal to incite in such a way, but l'll be treading a fine line, as there are a few politicians of the English kind that l would love to punch in the face (at least), and often state this in public, despite me being an easy going kind of fellow.
Anyway, Private Eye have summed some of it up. You can't defeat ISIS by bombing, as they can plan attacks from anywhere, and probably have supporters in all countries, albeit in small numbers (I assume), but as to the answer? It may require a proper, troops on the ground all out war, and who wants that? I'll take my chances with a free and open society any day, and still travel to places such as Egypt, Tunisia, France and Belgium.
Remember to put that on my headstone if l get blown up.
These pretty much sums up how l feel about the current terrorist activities, and the gung ho reactions to them.
Never mind folks, we'll soon be bombing Syria.
If you want more proof that man has been to the moon, check out the hundreds of photographs at the Project Apollo Archive, which has just been released, and can be found here.
Some of amy favourites are below, and the released batch reinforces to me how brave the astronauts were, and how alone they must have felt out there, looking back at Earth, or the never ending vastness of space.
Yet also, the best moment of their lives, never to be repeated.
The deluded scouse commentator, Jimmy Liddel (who in the real life, was my father's favourite player), is, to me at least, one of the funniest things on the internet, especially when Liverpool get a good hiding.
I can't work out how to embed the recent videos from their site, but here's Stevie Gerrard's farewell game at the end of last year.
As it goes on, it just gets better and better.
Warning - does contain the odd swear word.
And here's a recent one against Manchester United that l can't work out how to transfer over properly.
Excellent. I used to love the Charlie Brown and Peanuts books when l was a kid, and l love The Velvet Underground now.
A win / win situation for me.
This would look great on a t-shirt.
And as proof that The Velvet Underground is not just weird music, here's one of their many slow love songs. Lou Reed sure knew how to write a tune.
I've had a busy time lately.
I was at York and Middlesbrough with Robbo last weekend, and then this week, there was Squibbs' funeral on Wednesday, (although l went off to work after it), then an Adam and the Ants tribute band at Catterick Village on Friday, followed by The Motive in Richmond on Saturday night. Plenty of people out and about, and stoppy backs on both Friday and Saturday (and in York). Apparently there's a load of photographs about to be emailed to me from Saturday in Richmond (I insisted they were not to be put on Facebook), and it was a pretty raucous affair, but excellent fun.
Adam Ant has let himself go a bit recently
It's a hard life, but sometimes you've got to put the hours in, and the funerals bring it home that you've got to try and enjoy life while you can, although l do have an assignment l have to complete and send off this week.
Next up, a Slade tribute band in Darlington on Saturday. So to get me in the mood....
By the way, the Adam Ant picture is actually two people l know, Jacket and Mrs Jacket.
Both mad.
Now this is what l call a rat! Killed by Wapping on the London Underground.
I'm glad l haven't had to deal with any that size in the back garden.
What a beast.
This is a simple idea, and has no doubt been done many times in the past, but l'm impressed by these papercuttings / photographs by Nikolai Tolstyh, which have cut out animals, coloured in by being held over colourful backgrounds, mainly from nature.
Simple yet very effective. Check out his instagram page, where there are plenty more to be seen.
I'm currently still trying to work my way through the 18 cd version of the latest Bob Dylan boxset 'The Cutting Edge', which, for a sad geek like me is 100% enjoyment, as it features some of his best work (1965-66). Sadly, l've only got the cds, not all the packaging and extras, but l'm living in bliss street at present.
Rather like The Rolling Stones (amongst others), I'm slightly obsessed by him and his music, but have no great desire to listen to any of his current releases, and especially don't want to go and see him live these days, as l'd rather remember him when he was good. And when he was good, he was very good indeed.
Here's one of my favourite comedians, Rich Hall's view on the current Dylan live shows, something l wholeheartedly agree with.
As a flipside, here's Dylan when he was special. A live version of 'Tangled up in Blue' from the 'Desire' album.
I'm not her greatest fan by any stretch of the imagination, but Adele entering an Adele impersonator contest in disguise as 'Jenny', was really well done, and l actually found it pretty moving at the end, when the other 'Adeles' realise who it is.
From Adele at the BBC
I'm waiting for my ebay delivery of the book version of 'Er Ist Weider Da' (Look who's back) by Timur Vermes , and while eagerly hanging around my letter box for it, have been checking out the trailers of the film, which look pretty good.
l guess l may have to catch it on DVD or Sky, as l can't see any local cinemas putting it on, but hopefully l may be proven wrong (and it's not often l say that).
Hitler has returned to face the modern age, and he's not a happy man.
Who say's the Germans haven't got a sense of humour?
I'm actually going out tonight to see my mates band, but just in case any trick or treaters decide to pop round, this should give them a loud and clear message.
Urgh, good night last night with the boys. These were great. The Doors Alive at Darlington Forum.
Will definitely be going to see them again (possibly on acid next time).
I've recently been transferring some old cassette compilations that l made back in the day to CD for itunes
etc. It was good hearing some of the songs again after such a long time (I'm guessing about 10 years), but most importantly, it also confirmed what excellent eclectic taste in music l had, and still have (Track listings are above).
Anyone disagreeing must have cloth ears and a tiny brain (and crappy taste in music).
