jm barrie, arthur rackham, and peter pan

More crap that l would like to collect if l had the money and the space.  Pre First World War books illustrated and signed by Arthur Rackham.  The above illustrations are from J.M Barrie's 'Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens', and the whole book, complete with illustrations, can be viewed here.
It's about time l had my lottery win.

toodle pip

ferry cross the mersey (1965) - jeremy summers

I watched Ferry Cross The Mersey the other day on a pirate DVD (as you do).  Hardly ever shown on TV and never officially released, it's the tale of Gerry and The Pacemakers supposedly trying to win a talent competition in Liverpool at the peak of Merseybeat.  It features old Liverpool locations, top tunes by Gerry and his gang, would be stars at the competition, plus a pre nose job Cilla Black doing them a favour (fnaaar).  Excellent stuff!

toodle pip

grim reality

This is how the FPO lives her life.

toodle pip

women wearing football shirts

This is what women wearing football shirts should look like

This is not what women wearing football shirts should look like, but more often than not, it is the reality.  

Good to see she is a Liverpool fan though, and it could even be my old stamping ground of Bootle behind her.

toodle pip

plague boy shirt

Another design that would look great on a t shirt.

toodle pip

a couple of foreign film posters for doctor dolittle

I'm a sucker for the unusual foreign posters!

toodle pip

doctor dolittle (1967) - richard fleischer

By Jove, this took me back!
I haven't seen Doctor Dolittle for donkeys years, and have probably only seen it twice in my whole life, but l was really surprised at how much of it l remembered.  Yes, of course it goes on for too long, the story is pretty much non existent  and some of the 'animals' (such as the fox) have to be seen to be believed, but it is still an enjoyable escape from everyday reality.
Based on the Hugh Lofting books, this stars Rex Harrison as the Doctor, and the mad Irish accented Anthony Newley as his pal Mathew Mugg.  Everybody knows the basic tale - thanks to Polynesia the parrot, he can talk (and walk and squawk) with the animals. Remember the Doctor's first name?  Of course you don't - it's John.
That's about it really, sure the film looks great, there's a bit of a love story, incarceration (twice), a shipwreck and a floating island,  The Great Pink Sea Snail and young Tommy Stubbins tagging along just to annoy me. But the plot is irrelevant, it's the animals and song performances that make it, even with the crappy ballads.
I nearly forgot - there's also a great cameo by Dear old Dickie (Richard Attenborough) himself, as circus owner Albert Blossom, which just about steals the show, but l can't find a YouTube clip.
As far as l'm concerned, you can take your Eddie Murphy remake and shove it where the sun don't shine, even if the original movie was a commercial failure.

As a side note, Portia Nelson, who plays the Doctor's sister, wrote the book called 'There's a Hole in my Sidewalk -  The Romance of Self-discovery' which contains the poem 'Autobiography in Five Short Chapters', often used by self help gurus, AA meetings, and motivational speakers (who probably saw the poster for it in 'Good Will Hunting'.

I
I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost ... I am helpless. It isn't my fault. It takes me forever to find a way out.
II
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in the same place. But it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.
III
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in ... it's a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.
IV
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.
V
I walk down another street.

Another side note.
The Puddleby-on the Marsh scenes were shot at Castle Combe, as was War Horse (amongst others).  A place l'd like to visit when l eventually get down (like James Brown) to the Devon and Cornwall areas (even if it is in Wiltshire).

toodle pip

a 3d gif

I've put these type of 3D gifs up before, but l've forgotten who did this one, and my search thingie on the blog doesn't seem to work properly.  Simple yet emotive.

toodle pip

romanzo criminale la serie (season 2)

It would be a difficult undertaking trying to produce a series as magnificent as the Romanzo Criminale (La serie), but it has been accomplished by the second series.  This was easily as gripping, violent and edge of your seats crap your pants tastic as could be expected.
The gang starts to fragment after the murder of Lebanese, and Danni and Freddo find the gap between them widening.  Scialoja is still on the case, Buffalo takes more of a starring role, and there are deaths a plenty.  Who can be trusted?  No-one.
Absolutely brilliant, and we are blessed to be living in the age of such quality series.
Once again, it pisses all over 'The Bill'.

toodle pip

the underwater photography of alexander semenov

It's a whole different world under the sea. as demonstrated by these Alexander Semenov photographs, who is a marine biologist and underwater photographer.  There are loads more photographs and information at his site here, and even a picture of him looking cool.  I bet he gets inundated with emails, especially from the laydees.

toodle pip

le temps qui reste (2005) - francois ozon

Known as 'Time to Leave' in the English speaking world, Le Temps Qui reste stars Melvil Poupaud as Romain, a gay, self centred (and somewhat unpleasant   French photographer who is informed he has a brain tumour, and only a few months to live.  He then has to re-assess his life and deal with the consequences of his oncoming death.  Pretty slow moving, subtitled, depressing in places, and with a sub plot involving childhood and children, it was right up my street.
I should have been born gay and French, l'm wasted (sometimes literally) as a heterosexual scouser (even if that is sometimes hard to believe).

toodle pip 

ronnie wood is 65

Ageing - it's all in the head and in the clothes.  Ronnie Wood is 65, but dresses (and often acts) like a teenager, and still has a lust for life.  Some might say this is pretty sad, but l think it's pretty commendable the way he still wants to dress fashionably and stay up to date with music, books, fashion and art.  I suspect there is dye applied to the old crows nest on a regular basis (or even some weaves/wig), although l have no proof of that (but l do trust my own eyes and tiny brain).  To me, he looks pretty damn good, certainly much better than my grandparents did at that age (and me at my age).  Then again, l'd look that cheerful and trendy  if l had his money and l was a member of The Rolling Stones.
I say enjoy whatever age you are, you can't turn back the clock, and there's still plenty out there to discover, even if it is old films, books, records etc.

toodle pip

soak your nuts - cleansing with karyn

Karyn Calabrese may be onto something.
I must admit that soaking ones nuts is one of the more pleasant and life enhancing experiences life has to offer.
However, wringing them dry again afterwards is not all it's cracked up to be.
Boom Boom (and indeed - Boom) - l'll get my own coat.

toodle pip

brushing teeth the catterick way

These two containers look kind of similar

One of them is moisturiser

One of them is (Turkish) toothpaste

Easy to mistake first thing in the morning, especially at work when you are tired, as l found out this morning, when, half asleep, l brushed my teeth with the moisturiser.  I will tell you now, it was disgusting.  So bad in fact, in nearly woke me up properly.

toodle pip

keeping clean the mad way

toodle pip

walking to joes

One of the joys of living next to lots of countryside!  I foolishly decided to get some fresh air and walk to Joes yesterday, forgetting how wet it would be.  The journey itself doesn't take long (through the woods to Colburn), but it's a pain in the arse trying to miss all of the puddles and horse crap.
Still, it was probably the most exercise l've had for a while, so l'm obviously full of piss and vinegar now, and with my 'new heart' l felt like l could have hopped all of the way (if it wasn't for that pesky mud).

toodle pip