These are some of the original (and old) superhero costumes. They certainly look pretty dated and would never be worn by any of your modern heroes, as their costumes all have to be state of the art, skin tight and fetishy creations to show off their strapping and ripped bodies. The old Batman from the TV series (an unripped Adam West) wouldn't last two minutes against the later versions. Holy Yellow Shoelaces Batman!
Now l love my comics, especially The Amazing Spider-man (amongst many others). I also bow down to no man in my admiration for a fine set of breasts, but l still don't like it when the classic comics that l love so much are given a revamp to appeal to a new and younger generation. I understand it has to be done for higher sales, but l discovered and loved the comics even though l was not an American high school kid and a lot of the references were aimed at Americans and the USA market. If the comics are good, they will sell, but l guess in not enough numbers, otherwise the companies wouldn't bother redrawing them. On the other hand, maybe all the messing around with the artwork devalues the original concept and kudos about owning the comics. Then again, what the hell do l know, apart from Mary Jane Watson certainly got a trendy makeover and larger breasts. So maybe everyone's a winner (especially Peter Parker).
Here's something you don't see every day, an Octopus catching some rays by Mount Vesuvius. I have (on my many travels) been to Italy, been to Pompeii, been to Mount Vesuvius, but never seen anything like this (not that l was looking out for a lurking Octopus). It's enough to put you off going into the sea, but from what l remember of the Naples area, a lot of it was crap, definitely not the 'See Naples and die' beauty l was led to believe, so l was a bit dubious about going for a dip around those parts anyway.
Black velvet artwork by Robb Hamel, which is pretty moody (but in the good way). Buy it here (if you like it and have a spare couple of grand or so).
A fridge done up like the Tardis.
I can see why 'Wrong Turn At Tahoe' went straight to DVD, but it wasn't that bad, it just wasn't that great either. Joshua (Cuba Goodring Jr) is working for a baddie called Vincent (Miguel Ferrer), and they end falling out with Nino, a more powerful crime lord (Harvey Keitel doing his usual off the rails, bad guy routine). Lots of violence, deaths, shootings, man to man fighting and drug taking, but pretty implausible in lots of places.
Thinking about Christmas and all the tasty food that goes along with it, this image entered my mind. That's the sort of Christmas tree l want this year - a bacon one (maybe with a pork pie on top).
There has been a bit of a fuss in the last couple of weeks because a burglar was asked to write to the victim of his crime as part of his rehabilitation. He (the burglar) was obviously not sorry for what he had done, and, rather than playing the game and writing something false, decided to write an honest letter which (in his mind) blamed the victim for being stupid and leaving his property open to burglary. The letter was never actually sent, but people have been commenting that 'Society is going to the dogs' and 'The state of Britain today' etc, but whose fault is it? Now l have no idea who the writer of the letter is, but l would bet my life savings (luckily for me, that is bugger all) that it is a young 'working class' male, probably from a broken home, with his father either having left home, died, or being alcoholic or abusive (in whatever way). The young lad has obviously had a very poor education, and will live in a violent and poor environment (with the accompanying peer pressure). Now l accept he may be a little git and may have done nothing to help himself (apart from the burglaries obviously), but if he had decent parents and a nice middle class upbringing, l bet he would not be in the situation that he is currently in. I thought l was an inarticulate drunken fool (still am actually), but just take a look at the handwriting and mistakes on the letter. That person probably only had a very slim chance of avoiding the courts as soon as he was conceived. Improve poor peoples social environments, aspirations and education, and a lot of these crimes would disappear. I bet there are no convicted burglars amongst the Chipping Norton elite or any of the Eton crowd. Saying that, l would still want to twat the little git if he robbed my house.
This was invented in 1925 and is just what l could do with (being a miserable sod and all that). It's only an Isolator (with it's own oxygen!) that you can whack on your head and shut yourself off from the outside world while you get on with whatever you want to do and concentrate on it properly.
So that's how they manage to get women with the same kind of (identical in this case) bodies. What H&M have been doing is computer generating the bodies of what they consider to be ideal models for whatever they are promoting, then just photoshoping different faces on them and adjusting their skin colours. Genius!!
I have been to many concerts at Newcastle City Hall over the years, and although it holds just over 2,000 people, it does not look that large in this shot from the stage. Pretty deceiving l'd say, as l never realised how much you could make out so many of the audiences faces from upfront. 
I just love the colours and simplicity of this (although l can't understand a word on the cover).
Another ex slave memoir, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass relates his experiences as a slave, his views on everyone being equal, his religious views, and the outcome of his eventual escape (after staying in Baltimore and New York). He does not go into detail of how he escaped, as he did not want to give away any information that may hinder further escapees. Douglass later went on to be a leading figure in the fight against slavery and became a speaker for the abolitionist movement. They (the slaves) sure had it mighty hard back in the day.
