sOmEThiNg foR thE wEEkenD, SIR?

Josette Simon

2012-01-27T17:29:00.000Z

It is not only because she has a slender, swan like neck that one dreams of nuzzling; it is not only because she has a perfectly kissable mouth that I fantasise of brushing my own lips against; it is not because of that cutest of noses or those large, liquid, chocolate brown eyes that seem so alluring nor is it those ears, those wonderfully, delectable ears that like so many black peoples are so tiny, so in need of nibbling; no, it is none of the above even if I do find Josette Simon simply adorable. Her talent, apart from being gorgeous, is to be found in her chosen art: Josette is an actress.

I have never seen her performance in ‘Cry Freedom’ even though it was that film with her apparently flawless performance that gave her the springboard to launch her career.

For me it was Blake’s 7 that caught my attention and with it the talented Ms. Simon. (I hate the Ms tag altogether but it seems the correct thing to do nowadays). When I watch the old videos I have of the show I fail to see why I liked it so much but in the late 70’s and 80’s it was compulsive viewing in my house with both my wife and I hooked to the show. Dayna Mellanby entered the world of Blake and company during season three. Like so many characters in the series her personality was powerful but flawed. Dayna’s apparent death at the conclusion to the series left a sense of mystery. No one was really sure if she had in fact died or managed to escape.

Josette Patricia Simon, OBE, was born in 1960 in the UK of Antiguan descent. She learnt her craft at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and is a well regarded stage actress who performs frequently with the Royal National Theatre and also the Royal Shakespeare Company. Of her major achievements being cast as one of the three 'weird sisters' in Macbeth is at the forefront. But it is her defiance of accepting what some see as traditional white roles that has given her a degree of notoriety. It could be argued that casting a black person in a white role is pointless, illogical but isn’t that precisely what Laurence Oliver did in reverse?

Since then Josette has performed on stage and TV. Her appearance in ‘Lewis’ was both moving and memorable as she provided the love interest to the Geordie Detective who, when pursuing the truth involves Stephanie Fielding’s (Josette’s character) son thereby spoiling any chance the pair had of sharing a romantic liaison.

Like any good actor it is Josette’s economy of style that impresses, that and her ability to infuse her own individuality into the persona of the character she is playing. Had I been Avon, that acid tongued individual from Blake’s 7, I would have kissed the girl when the opportunity arose but then again what sane man wouldn’t have?

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Facts from a Funny Old World

2012-01-25T12:55:00.000Z

The very first recorded Ancient Olympic Games took place in 776 BC. The event was a stadion race (a foot race equivalent to 190metre or 208 yard dash). The winner was a humble baker from the Greek city state of Elis named Coroebus.
.
.
.
cLIpPinGs fRoM saTanS tOEnAil.

Who Says Satire Is Dead?

2012-01-22T09:59:00.003Z

Flash animation by my son. He's working his way through the government.

A Double D Anniversary - Dickens and Debussy

2012-01-18T14:12:00.002Z

The New Year brings with it a rash of anniversaries. Foremost has to be Charles Dickens who celebrates his birth some 200 years ago. Another notable D is that of Claude Debussy who was born on 22 August 1862. Both men have continued to bring joy to countless people over the intervening years and deservedly receive huge acclaim from literature and music.

I am currently reading “A Tale of Two Cities.” It is remarkable that Dickens had the ability to write with such aplomb seamlessly joining humour and pathos together with such verve formed with incredible characterisation. His eye for the underdog is never far from the narrative or his view on the pitiful existence of the working class. He captures so much in each novel airing his views with subtlety and wit so that he never preaches or allows his empathies for social inequality to push the story into second place. Born in 1812 on February 7th in Portsmouth the son of John and Elizabeth, his early life, as most now know, was represented in his novel ‘David Copperfield.’ The tale depicts accurately how awful life would then have been for anyone whose fortunes faded and who found themselves in penury.

Of course he was so much more than a novelist. He was a playwright, a journalist, a writer of travel books and a humanitarian. The fact his stories live on with regular adaptations on both television and film is sufficient proof that at the core of his tales is that fundamental truth that all human beings are created equal. He truly is the quintessential Victorian author.

Achille-Claude Debussy was born eight years before Charles Dickens death in 1862 in St. Germain-en-Laye on the 22nd August. He died, like Dickens, a relatively young man on March 25th 1918. This fact may and probably is quite unremarkable but it tickles my fancy as my eldest daughter was born on 22nd August and I was born on 25th March. Obviously Thumbscrew was not born in 1862 and nor was I born in 1918.

Someone once described Debussy’s musical style as being the sonic equivalent of a Monet painting, a sort of melodic post-impressionist take on life. This resonates with me still especially so when I listen to pieces such as La Mer which illustrates perfectly the extraordinary tone his music produces. In a world of instant access to virtually any given subject combined with an increasingly demanding desire by most people to have whatever it is they want immediately then Debussy’s music provides the ultimate balm: reflective, soothing, calm but with and underlying passion disguised by perfect melodies.

I suppose there is nothing greatly remarkable about two such talents being born in the same century as they both, much like meteors in the night sky, flashed past each other as one faded whilst the other began its ascent. The truth that links these two masters of the form is not their initials but their incredible longevity. Charles Dickens and Claude Debussy.

aNOtHEr fiLlEteD KIpPeR oN tHe MarBlE pLatTeR.

Proper Quotes From the Upper Crusties

2012-01-04T16:22:00.000Z

"I have a great mind to believe in Christianity for the mere pleasure of fancying I may be damned."

Lord Byron

. . . aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

A Feast Of Posters

2011-12-30T18:54:00.000Z

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

A Smith & Burrows Merry Chritsmas to one and all...

2011-12-23T08:33:00.000Z

God damn, this snow
Will I ever get where I wanna go
And so I skate, across the Thames
Hand in hand, with all my friends
And all the things, that we planned

My son's eyes in the outline of his hand
And even though I hate the cold
Constant reminder that I'm getting old
Another year draws to its close, entire London slows
When I dream tonight, I'll dream of you

When the Thames ... froze

God damn, this government
Will they ever tell me, where the money went
Protesters march out on the street
As young men sleep amongst the feet
Another year draws to its close, entire London slows
When I dream tonight, I'll dream of you

When the Thames froze

So tell everyone that there's hope in your heart
Tell everyone or it will tear you apart
The end of Christmas day, when there's nothing left to say
The years go by so fast, let's hope the next beats the last
Tell everyone that there's hope in your heart
Tell everyone or it will tear you apart
The end of Christmas day, when there is nothing left to say
The years go by so fast, let's hope the next beats the last aaaaaahaaaahaaahaaa

.
.
.
aNOtHEr FESTIVE dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Eliza Carthy

2011-12-19T17:25:00.000Z

Some may find having such talented parents a hindrance. Outsiders might claim offspring ride the backs of their famous mothers and fathers. Eliza Carthy does neither. Her talent is individual enough to punch its own weight whilst her love for her Mum and Dad, Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy, is made crystal clear to all who read her sleeve notes.

There is a distinctive folky feel to all of Eliza’s music: it is very much music with roots and soul, earthy but spirited giving it the ability to grow from the wellspring it has come from. More recently she has started to experiment most notably on ‘Dreams of Breathing Underwater’ and ‘Neptune.’ The later has that gritty realism associated with folk but combined with a Germanic cabaret fee that is quote intoxicating.

Eliza is a Yorkshire lass, born in Scarborough in 1975. By 1988, at the tender age of thirteen, she was singing and performing with her mother, Norma, her aunt Lal Waterson and her cousin Maria Knight. Her first album was 1993’s ‘Eliza Carthy & Nancy Kerr’ her latest album is the critically acclaimed ‘Neptune’ that was released earlier this year. It is b y anyone’s standards a splendid album coming as it does in a year littered with splendid albums it stands proud among them.

Like most anyone born of working class beliefs Eliza is a hardworking individual. If not making albums, writing her own material, bringing up her daughter Florence Daisy and doing the shopping no doubt, she is touring, performing or dueting on other artists albums. She seems to juggle a hectic lifestyle whilst remaining true to herself, her family and her roots.

This year has seen a great many excellent albums by the likes of Radiohead, P.J. Harvey, Paul Simon, Little Dragon, Kate Bush and the amazing Civil Wars but Eliza is among that vaunted crew. If you thought folk music was all beards, bellies and badly knitted woolies then think again and as you do listen to ‘Neptune, ‘ it is a fine body of work.

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

The Bathtub Test

2011-12-09T14:36:00.000Z

The Bathtub Test

During a visit to the mental asylum, I asked the Director how do you determine whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.

"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."

"Oh, I understand," I said. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or teacup."

"No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?"

. . . aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Prpoer Quotes From Often People

2011-12-04T16:11:00.000Z

“Once I was a forty pound weakling. Now I am two separate gorillas.”

Vivian Stanshall

. . . aNOtHEr sLOw sHaG iN ThE seDimEnT oF lIFe.

Mark Linkous

2011-12-02T11:09:00.001Z

Mark Linkous was a come and go sort of a man whose talent, a rich and potent force, too often was hidden from view. He didn’t trail the pop world seeking for fame but blazed the heavens as a random, passing star of his own making. He liked to walk his own path. It was one that led him to achieve some spectacular results. If the phrase underground still held weight then that is where Mark existed.
Mark had been making music for some time when I first heard him. The album that got my attention was 1995’s Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot. It was an album credited to Sparklehorse but even if a band played it the only constant musician in the band was Linkous – it was effectively a solo release. It contained music that was driven, sonic and melodic with some interesting lyrics. It was a perfect antidote to both grunge and Brit Pop.

Sparklehorse was not Mark’s first musical outing that honor belongs to eighties band Dancing Hoods, a four piece that produced two albums neither of which sold well. The band broke up in 1988.

Frederick Mark Linkous[5] was born on September 9, 1962 in Arlington, Virginia. He came from a mining community. His father was a miner therefore he was expected to follow the same path. He chose music as a way to avoid going down the pit. After graduating in the early 80’s he moved to New York where he met the other three members of Dancing Hoods: Bob Bortnick on vocals and guitar, Don Short on drums, and Eric Williams on bass. Their lack of success did not deter him. It was after the bands demise that Linkous moved back to Virginia. It was then that Sparklehorse began to make music.

In 1996 whilst on tour supporting Radiohead Mark overdosed on valium, anti-depressants and a cocktail of other drugs. He collapsed back on his legs where he remained unconscious for fourteen hours. When he came to he was unable to feel his legs and was taken to St.Mary’s Hospital, London where emergency surgery was performed. He spent six months recovering in a wheel chair and although he regained the ability to walk his legs never fully recovered their strength.

Sparklehorse’s output was fractured. The four albums produced covered an eleven year period. Their quality though was never in dispute, they were all top notch even if some listeners found the sound at times somber. There was a melancholic feel to a lot of what was produced but also a delicate, fragile beauty. I found then and still do a haunted humanity buried in the both lyrics and tunes; a frightened boy looking out on a world of delight spoilt by others; car tyres left on the side of a road surrounded by a forest; a dead elk left on the freeway having been hit by a truck; a single tree outside a tenement block. He saw these things then sang what he saw. Mark Linkous was remarkable.

.
.

fLIp FlOp tIdDlY pIp.

A Feast Of Posters

2011-11-30T18:52:00.004Z

. Some delightful line drawings sketched in blue making for an unusual visual
.
.
fAthEr'S tOe nAIl cLipPinGs.

The Civil Wars

2011-11-25T17:28:00.001Z

There is something extraordinarily beautiful about hearing harmonies sung by a male and female duo. Perhaps it is something to do with the voice being the first instrument but I suspect it is the intimate way that both voices intertwine in a powerful audial courtship that really tugs at the heart.

Of course there have been a number of close knit harmonies sung by duos and not always by members of the opposite sex: The Everly Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel to name but two and more recently Robert plant and Alison Krauss. When these guys sing their voices become airborne so tightly connected are their vocals.

The Civil Wars met almost by chance when both Joy Williams and John Paul White attended a song writing session held in Nashville Tennessee. Neither had intended to form a band but so great was their interaction that the potential became glaringly obvious. This was 2008. It was one of those years.

Their meteoric rise has been justly deserved but what is more remarkable is how they achieved notoriety in the UK. After appearing in October 2011 on Jools Holland’s “Later” with a performance that grabbed the attention of the British public. Their album, “Barton Hollow” which had not been officially released in England went straight into number twenty two on the UK’s download chart. One of those years repeated.

I heard them live on Whispering Bob Harris’s radio show about a month ago and as I listened found the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Each phrase that one sang was matched perfectly by the other, it was as though they were mirror images of each other so that when one did something the other followed instantly. The sound they created was mesmeric and haunting, its appeal timeless, it passion bordering on obsessive. Acts like these deserve every accolade they get for they are truly incredible.

.
.
.
cOd FisH pIe CRusT fIlLeD WiTh cArRotS.

Alfred Bestall

2011-11-14T18:57:00.001Z

When commenting on Alfred Bestall, the universally accepted all-time greatest illustrator of Rupert the bear, it would be churlish not to mention Rupert’s creator Mary Tourtel, after all without that fine lady there would be no to article to write.

Mary was born in 1874 in Canterbury, Kent. As the daughter of stained glass artist and stonemason she was destined to be creative. The comic strip she started for the Daily Express in 1920 was born of competitive needs. The Daily Mail and Daily Mirror had their children’s strips and the Mail wanted one too. Mary created a character called Little Brown Bear which evolved into Rupert in order to reduce the costs of inking. For fifteen years Mary wrote and drew Rupert the Bear then in 1935 Alfred Bestall took over the creative reins. It was a role he enjoyed for thirty years.

For a man who lived the autumn of his life in Nantgwynant, Wales. Bestall was in fact born Alfred Edmeades Bestall in Mandalay, Burma in 1892. He wasn’t educated there though but in Colwyn Bay, North Wales. Bestall was an accomplished student who went on to win a scholarship to the Birmingham Central School. He was also a boy after my own heart and was often caught and punished for drawing in his exercise books. It was his illustration of a mouse head caught in a trap that won him his place at Art College. His time there was fractured when he was called upon to serve in Flanders during the Great War where he transported troops in a red London bus. It wasn’t necessary to be barmy but being British was.

Returning to Blighty shortly after the war Bestall completed his studies and was hired by Enid Blyton to illustrate her books. This led to further commissions for book illustrations which eventually won him work for both Punch and Tatler magazines.

Influenced by the landscape he vacationed in after the war, Alfred Bestall produced some delightful images that transposed nicely into the Rupert books. Much of the work was whimsical but that wasn’t the only quality he evoked. There was an otherworldliness about the land Rupert’s tales took place in, a sense of it being very possible for bear headed boys along with their anthropomorphic friends to exist. Today’s world is filled with a desire to have stories both gritty and realistic making Bestall’s books seem dated by comparison. I find that rather sad as the modern way pays less attention to reality than it pretends while being equally escapist in its endeavors and far less captivating in its delivery.

It is for his work on Rupert the Bear that Alfred (Fred) Bestall will be remembered but also and perhaps even better would be the work he produced for Punch along with the double-page spreads he did in glorious watercolour for Tatler and of course the two wonderful oil paintings which were hung in the Royal Academy that would take his own pride of place.

. aNOtHEr LuMp oF FUDgE fRoM tHe FUdgE mAKErS cAbInEt.

Peter Saville

2011-11-04T13:50:00.000Z

Manchester has much to answer for according to one of its beloved sons. It is where the world’s most popular football teams play. It is where the Hollies, The Buzzcocks, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, James, The Happy Mondays and countless other bands came from. It was in Manchester that the Hacienda, that notorious club was based and of course it was home to Factory Records the indie label that gave me and many others so much pleasure during the eighties and beyond. Manchester: a city whose name is synonymous with modern music and the city that gave us Peter Saville.

What first caught my imagination was the record sleeve Peter created for Joy Division’s 1979 release “Unknown Pleasures.” The stark image with the undulating lines was, and still is, mesmerising. It was one of those LP covers that piqued the interest without even having heard the music. The cover artwork captured the imagination of the times following as it did hot on the heels the fading punk scene.

Peter was born in Manchester on 9th October 1955. He learnt his craft while attending, as it was called then, Manchester Polytechnic from 1975 until 1978. His rise to fame came after meeting Factory Records maestro, journalist and TV presenter Tony Wilson at a Patti Smith concert. Wilson commissioned Saville to design the first factory poster. The design of the poster perfectly captured the name of the company whilst reflecting the urban thrust of the music it featured. After this, Saville joined Factory records as a partner along with Alan Erasmus, Rob Bretton and of course the now legendary and sorely missed Tony Wilson. It was to prove to be a fruitful and exciting partnership.

Following his success with Factory Records Saville moved from Manchester to London. His modernist take on art caught the eye of Virgin, specifically the labels offshoot DinDisc which featured the likes of Wham! Roxy Music and Duran Duran. He became DinDisc’s art director. It was to prove to be another successful collaboration. Peter then went on to form the design agency Peter Saville Associates. The agencies prime focus was record labels and musical artists. In 1990, following an invitation to join the partner-owned Pentagram, one of the most respected multidisciplinary design consultancies in the world Peter closed his London office

Peter Saville left Pentagram in 1993 and England for America to join Frankfurt Balkind at their Los Angeles office. There followed a series of moves including working for German advertising agency (Meiré & Meiré) where he founded the Apartment producing work for Smart Car and others.

He returned to freelancing and London in 1999. Shortly after re-opening Peter Saville Associates. The company has since been renamed as Saville Parris Wakefield. Further success followed with commissions from Stella McCartney, John Galliano, Yohji Yamamoto and Christian Dior.

From walking the humble streets of Manchester and from being influenced by Herbert Spencer’s “Pioneers of Modern Typography”: Peter Saville: the man who refashioned Rock and Pop art.

.
.
.
mORe pAiNt SpiLlEd iN tHe PUdlLe.

Suicide in the Trenches

2011-11-01T00:41:00.000Z

I knew a simple soldier boy.....

Who grinned at life in empty joy,

Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,

And whistled early with the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,

With crumps and lice and lack of rum,

He put a bullet through his brain.

And no one spoke of him again.

You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye

Who cheer when soldier lads march by,

Sneak home and pray you'll never know

The hell where youth and laughter go.

By Siegfried Sassoon

.
.
.
tHe wAr tO eNd aLl WaRs.

A Feast Of Posters

2011-10-30T18:51:00.000Z

.
.
.
aNOtHEr fAg EnD iN tHe aShTrAY of lIfE.

Proper Quotes From Proper People

2011-10-27T17:13:00.001+01:00

"Who in there right mind would want to be Prime Minister?"

David Attenborough

.
.
.
mORe eMuLSiOn oN ThE pITtEd ceILiNg.

Essex Girls 4 - Helen Mirren

2011-10-21T00:00:00.000+01:00

Dame Helen Mirren, DBE (born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.

The first house she remembers living in was in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, when she was two or three years old, after the birth of her younger brother, who was named Peter Basil after his grandfather and great-great-grandfather. Mirren was the second of three children, born two years after her older sister Katherine ("Kate"; born 1942). She later lived in Leigh-on-Sea

And of course she oozes sensuality ....

.
.

aNOtHEr dOoDle oN ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pAd.

Peter Ackroyd

2011-10-18T17:38:00.003+01:00

Peter Ackroyd is a name synonymous with that of London. His books on the City are like no other, they breathe life into the history of England’s capital brushing cobwebs away from the musty, dusty recesses of memory. “London: The Biography” captures the essence of The City presenting it in all its varied forms; beautiful, baleful and brutal leaving the reader enthralled by the truth, the mystery and the myth. He leaves no stone unturned as he guides you down the alleys that Dickens walked down, past the buildings that Wren, Hawksmoor and Nash designed, along the banks of the muddy Thames, across its bridges, behind its charnel houses, through its topiary and green spaces. It is, as books go, immaculate in its conception.

There are companion books too. “Thames: Sacred River” and “London Under” which bear the same hallmark of quality. No book shelf can be complete without them all easy to read and informative.

It was these works of history that first caught my interest in Peter Ackroyd but I was soon to discover that he is far more than historian, far more than a 21st Century John Stow.

Peter Ackroyd was born in Acton, Middlesex on 5th October 1949. A scholarly child, Ackroyd showed his sharp mind at an early age moving with consummate ease through junior to senior level at St. Benedict’s, Ealing before going to Cambridge where he won a double first in English Literature. He was also a Mellon Fellow at Yale in the United States. It was clear to all when, at the age of twenty two he wrote his first book which was then published four years later. Since then he has gone on to write a staggering fifty one books. They are a nix of non-fiction, poetry and fiction.

Hawksmoor comes highly recommended, a novel that screws into the psyche pairing back the flesh of phobias, dipping your mind into the chill waters of nightmare. I don’t think I have ever read something so steeped in darkness. His economy of style is what I admire the most. He doesn’t waste a word as he effortlessly leads you on with succinct descriptions coupled with flawless pacing.

I have yet to catch up with all his catalogue of work but it is a pleasant thought to have and comforting to know that whenever I pick up a book with Peter Ackroyd the quality of the read is assured.

.
.
.
mOVe oVeR mOThEr, THeRe's a TAleNt IN ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Collage

2011-10-11T16:02:00.004+01:00

Coll-age - from the Greek , meaning a collection of old tat glued to an animal skin - or is it French? Anyway, it's donkey's years old and steeped in history, wine, fermented goats curds and a fine musty odour similar to a Yak's chafing belt.

It all began really some years later when artists ran out of paint during the great Paint Drought of 1876 and they had to do something else or go totally mad sniffing all that turpentine and drinking absinthe. One of the first collage artists was Gordon Le Bennet who lived in Paree, somewhere in French France. He was often found sticking post-it notes to Toulouse Lautrec's posters telling him where the next knees up was going to be and to make them more interesting added a cut out from the Exchange & Mart - usually of a shed or some gum boots - applied with his own spit.
Years later a small group formed calling themslves the Extortionists , or was it the Contortionists? Anyway, they used more suffixicated methods using real animal glue and a large brush made from a badgers eyebrow. The leader was George Brark and he became famous for his colluges - as he later called them- of still lives fashioned from the empty packets of biscuits and sweets he mainly lived on. Soon many others were drawn into his collugey web - people like Pricasso, Max Unst and Salvador "Where's Me Bike" Doolally.

Coming right up to date now we have the Kollage Kids who cut out all manner of old junk to amuse and mystify the interweb world. They have a blog which you can find HERE called The Kollage Kit. Go and have a look - I think you'll be amazed!

...aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Bert Jansch R.I.P

2011-10-10T14:16:00.000+01:00

Following the ‘King of Folk?’ article with the recent death of Bert Jansch seems oddly fitting. If Ralph Vaughan Williams was among those who rediscovered English folksong then surely Bert Jansch was among the vanguard of early sixties musicians who redefined it?

Bert died a little over a week ago. Such news is always sad but especially so in light of his losing the battle with cancer that he had fought so long. It won’t be the cough that carried him nor the coffin that will be remembered but his unique style of guitar playing that has proven to be such a huge influence on so many other guitarists and songwriters.

Jimmy Page raved about him saying "At one point, I was absolutely obsessed with Bert Jansch. When I first heard that LP, I couldn't believe it. It was so far ahead of what everyone else was doing. No one in America could touch that."

Neil Young was another fan as was Johnny Marr. Both Paul Simon and Donovan owe him a debt of thanks. In fact I think all of modern music in the last fifty years owes him a great deal.

Bert Jansch - 3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011

. . . aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

The King of Folk Music?

2011-10-08T17:35:00.000+01:00

As stereotypes go the woollen jumper wearing, bearded folkie (and that’s just the girls) is one of the most dumb. It sort of ranks up there with the one that suggests all Irish are stupid, all black’s are thieves and all Jews are tight-fisted. In a nut shell it is utter tosh. There is also the odd belief that all folk songs have lyrics that always go “with a hey nonny nonny no.” All of which may have remained forever fixed in our minds as being accurate were it not for the efforts of one man. That man, an acclaimed composer who left this world in 1958 having written some quite incredible music, championed the rustic sounds of English folksongs to such a degree that without his massive input the music we now take for granted may never have hit our radio stations. No Fairport Convention, no Seth Lakeman, no Unthanks and no Liza Carthy.

“There is a feeling of recognition, as of meeting an old friend, which comes to us all in the face of great artistic experiences. I had the same experience when I first heard an English folksong, when I first saw Michelangelo's Day and Night, when I suddenly came upon Stonehenge or had my first sight of New York City – the intuition that I had been there already.”

His love of forgotten folk song was immense; so huge that he used, like many of his European contemporaries, melodies ‘borrowed’ from or influenced by these earliest forms of people music.

“The art of music above all the other arts is the expression of the soul of a nation.”

Born on 12th October 1872 in Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, Ralph Vaughan Williams, a vicars son, spent a career raising the profile of many long lost songs representing their beauty within the heart of pieces such as “English Folk Song Suite,” “Six Studies in English folksongs for Clarinet and Picolo,” and the supremely engaging epitome of all that is England or English “Lark Ascending.”

You can feel the gentel breeze brush your hair back from your forehead, see the clouds shadows as they float over the rolling hills, smell the scent of new mown grass, watch as cattle slowly graze treading their plodding way across the fields, hear that most English of birds, the lark, as it flies ever higher, up and up until it is lost from sight. This is that magnificent piece "Lark Ascending.".
.

It is the cause and effect of his passion for the working men and women of England’s roughly hewn songs that often gets forgotten, especially in light of his success with orchestral music, but it is the one gift we all, from Rock stars to Pop Idols, should thank him for.

Ralph Vaughan Williams: The King of Folk Music?

.
.
.
aNOtHEr cLiMb uP tHe DAleS aNd dOWn THe vAlEs.

Proper Quotes from Proper People (7 and three fifths)

2011-10-04T16:08:00.002+01:00

"Rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, in order to provide articles for people who can't read."

Frank Zappa

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dInGlE IN tHe DAnglE pOOoL.

A Feast Of Posters

2011-09-30T18:48:00.001+01:00

.
.
.
a FIRmeR gRip On THe bEd pOSt.

Ivan Brunetti

2011-09-13T13:26:00.000+01:00

Ivan Brunetti

Ivan Brunetti was born in a small town in Italy on October 3, 1967. His misspent childhood consisted entirely of self-absorption, spontaneously generated hallucinations, bad drawing, and disappointments to his family. He was named after Ivan The Terrible, but as part of some apparent cosmic drollery, he turned out to be an overly sensitive, severely introverted, sad little sissy-boy. At the tender age of 8, he moved from his grandparents' farm in Italy to the industrial South Side of Chicago; he has lived in this fair city for about 5000 years, rarely venturing outside of its bittersweet confines. He has worked at a series of unglamorous occupations, gone to college, fallen in love, and then watched his life unceremoniously crumble. Somewhere in there he started drawing intensely personal, notoriously suicidal, and just-plain vile comic strips, perhaps as a reaction to a life of bitter regrets and dashed idealistic hopes. He's actually a wistful, heartbroken, sweet-natured fellow. He stupidly quit a decent job during a depressive fit, most likely brought on by a soured marriage and hellish divorce, and then promptly and utterly failed to eke out a living as a freelance illustrator and cartoonist. He now works as a web designer, another cruel irony of fate for this hermit-like, nostalgic Luddite. Recently, he has also started teaching cartooning, which he thoroughly enjoys. Who knew?

He currently lives with his girlfriend and their three cats. His girlfriend thinks it's weird that they have three cats, that they've turned into those "weird cat people." He respectfully disagrees. Three cats is surely on the cusp of being excessive, but it's not weird, at least not for a two-bedroom, plus there's the sun-room, don't forget. So that's like almost three bedrooms, really. Four cats is weird. And, OK, if we had a one-bedroom with three cats, yeah, that would be weird. Three cats in a large two-bedroom is not weird. Four would be weird.

Anyhow, he has made his tentative peace with this cruel world and lives in relative harmony with the universe. He collects old toys, whimsically designed packages of any kind, functional and aesthetically pleasing Sanrio products, useless art deco artifacts, printed ephemera featuring dead movie starlets and/or anonymous flappers, European and Japanese knockoffs of 1920s/1930s Disney and Fleischer Brothers characters, "girlie"/"nudie" memorabilia, and anything with stylized, unapologetically romantic depictions of female faces and hands. He also likes old newspaper strips (up to and including Peanuts), Drew Barrymore (as well as a small handful of other modern-day actresses), painfully introverted, intimate music, art, and literature (although he has a soft spot for simple, happy pop songs), classic screwball comedies, and Frank Capra movies. Also pornography. That pretty much covers it, folks.

discover more here

Ivan Brunetti

.
.
.
aNOtHEr fILl-Up IN tHe TaNk Of P.

Essex Girls 3 - Sandie Shaw

2011-09-04T00:51:00.011+01:00

SANDIE SHAW
BORN:26TH FEBRUARY 1947
PLACE:DAGENHAM
PROFESSION: SINGER

.
.
.
aNOtHEr sPIt INtO ThE rUStY SpitOOn Of lIfE.

Roland Emmett

2011-09-03T13:50:00.005+01:00

CARTOONIST AT HOME

Your browser does not support iframes.

Click on the above picture to play film at Pathe News website.

The wonderful eccentric world of Roland Emmett. I first saw his work at the Battersea Pleasure Gardens in 1953- The Far Tottering & Oyster Creek Railway. There is one of his moving sculptural clocks in the mall in Basildon -sadly not working when I last saw it.

Wikipedia says -

"Frederick Rowland Emett (22 October 1906 – 13 November 1990) OBE, his name frequently misspelled as Roland Emmett, was an English cartoonist and constructor of whimsical kinetic sculpture.

Emett was born in New Southgate, London, the son of a businessman and amateur inventor, and the grandson of Queen Victoria's engraver. He was educated at Waverley Grammar School in Birmingham, where he excelled in drawing, caricaturing his teachers and also vehicles and machinery. When he was only fourteen he took out a patent on a gramophone volume control. He studied at Birmingham School of Arts and Crafts and one of his landscapes, Cornish Harbour, was exhibited at the Royal Academy; it is now in the Tate collection.

An otherwise undistinguished career was interrupted by World War II, when he worked as a draughtsman for the Air Ministry, while perfecting his gift for drawing cartoons. From 1939 through the 1940s, he published regularly in Punch – making drawings or watercolours of strange, bumbling trains with silly names. On 12 April 1941 he married Mary Evans, the daughter of a Birmingham silversmith. It was Mary who would manage his business interests. They adopted a daughter, Claire.

In 1947 his cartoons came to life on the stage of the Gobe Theatre, London, in Between the Lines, a scene for Laurier Lister's revue Twopence Coloured, with Max Adrian as an eccentric signalman at Friars Fidgeting Signal Box. In 1951, at the Festival of Britain, his most famous steam locomotive, Nellie, was made into a copper and mahogany kinetic sculpture and was one of the festival’s most popular attractions. There was an unfortunate fatality when the train came off the line. Two of his other trains were created for the Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Branch Railway. At this time he was living in Cornwall and working in a studio in a boat-loft at Polperro; later he would return to West Cornwall before eventually settling for the rest of his life at Ditchling, in Sussex.

Emett parted company with Punch magazine soon after Malcolm Muggeridge became editor and began systematic changes to the magazine. After a spread in Life magazine on 5 July 1954, his work was much in demand in the United States.

He turned more and more to designing and supervising the building of what he called his things – always with silly names such as "The Featherstone-Kite Openwork Basketweave Mark Two Gentleman’s Flying Machine", two copies of which exist, one placed in a glass cage in the Merrion Centre, Leeds). In the mid-1960s he was commissioned by Honeywell to create a mechanical computer, which he named "The Forget-Me-Not Computer." In 1968 he designed the elaborate inventions of Caractacus Potts (played by Dick Van Dyke for the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

In 1973 his water powered musical clock, "The Aqua Horological Tintinnabulator", was installed on the lower floor of the Victoria Centre, Nottingham, UK which can still be seen at work there.

His larger works, such as Emettland, went on extended tours, ending up in prestigious venues such as the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. The Ontario Science Centre in Toronto has a collection of about ten Rowland Emett creations and every December displays the restored working pieces, usually under the title "Dream Machines".

A 30 foot square mosaic by Roland Emett, installed around 1960, can be seen on the side of the NCP car park in The Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead.

His works are fundamentally different from those of Heath Robinson in that they are actually buildable, and would work. The works of the artist Jean Tinguely are a better comparison, "using assemblages of industrial detritus to burlesque effect".[citation needed]

When asked how he came up with his strange designs, Emett remarked:

"It is a well known fact that all inventors get their first ideas on the back of an envelope. I take slight exception to this, I use the front so that I can incorporate the stamp and then the design is already half done."

He was fair-haired and fresh-faced, looked younger than his years, and bore a resemblance to Danny Kaye. In 1978 he was awarded an OBE, and died on 13 November 1990 in a Sussex nursing home."

A Feast Of Posters

2011-08-30T18:47:00.000+01:00

.
.
.
aNOtHEr flIp ONtO ThE tRAmpOliNe.

In Bruges

2011-08-15T00:22:00.001+01:00

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson shine in this dark comedy featuring two assasins sent to bruges after screwing up a hit. Also has the talented Ralph Fiennes, 'In Bruges'...

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Essex Girls 2 - Maggie Smith

2011-08-04T17:27:00.003+01:00

MAGGIE SMITH
BORN:DECEMBER 28TH 1934
PLACE:ILFORD
PROFESSION: ACTRESS

.
.
. aNOtHEr sLIp oN ThE sTaiRoD OF lIFe.

A Feast Of Posters

2011-07-30T18:45:00.001+01:00

.
.
.
aNOtHEr slIp oN thE lINo.

Little Dragon

2011-07-28T13:14:00.000+01:00

The trouble with getting older is that you catch on later to events already well underway. This excellent band with their equally excecellent front 'man' have been around since 2007 but I only recently heard them.
This is the superb newish single that is haunting my head>>>

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Sexy Beast

2011-07-15T00:19:00.001+01:00

A brilliant performance by Ben Kingsley from a brilliant British film, 'Sexy Beast'...

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

"Some Yo Yo Stuff"

2011-07-11T00:05:00.014+01:00

The dry wind that took Don Van Vliet from us tore a hole in the sky. Such talent is rare; heaven gifted. Here is a short film by Anton Corbijn that celebrates the man, his art and his music...

.
.
.
aNOtHEr rAbBitT in ThE dIAmoNd pOOoL.

Proper Quotes from Popped up People 4

2011-07-08T00:26:00.000+01:00

"It's hard to use the English language. I'd rather play a tune on a horn, but I've always felt that I didn't want to train myself. Because when you get a train, you've got to have an engine and a caboose. I think it's better to train the caboose. You train yourself, you strain yourself."

Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart)

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Essex Girls 1 - Charlotte Rampling

2011-07-04T00:34:00.002+01:00

CHARLOTTE RAMPLING
BORN:FEBRUARY 5TH 1945
PLACE:STURMER
PROFESSION: ACTRESS

.
.
.
aNOtHEr hONeY IN ThE mAGpIE bIRdBuSh.

A Feast Of posters

2011-06-30T18:43:00.000+01:00

.
.
.
aNOtHEr clIp aBOuT thE bACk oF tHe HeAD.

Coco Before Chanel - Audrey Tautou

2011-06-26T00:33:00.001+01:00

From the fortcoming film starring Audrey Tautou, here is a short interview as the French actress prepares for the role of Coco Chanel...

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Gilbert & George

2011-06-22T00:56:00.003+01:00

As ecentrics go they don't come much odder than these chaps. I have nothing against Tracey Emin or Damien Hirst but these guys, for me, are the bees knees...

.
.
.
aNOtHEr fIdDLe oN ThE mAGpIE vIOlA.

Sergio Aragonés

2011-06-18T00:48:00.005+01:00

No, he isn't some Latin American singer of Salsa songs. Nor does he play right wing for Real Madrid. He is in fact one of America's most renown and acclaimed comic book artists.

Don't think that you know him?

Bet you do but you just don't recognise his name.

Sergio Aragonés came to fame for his creative and humorous artwork on Mad Magazine and, in case I forget, he is also the creator of the internationally acclaimed comic book Groo the Wanderer.

So then, that is the overall profile but, just who is Sergio Aragonés?

Sergio Aragonés was born in Spain in 1937 but left Spain with his parents at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil war. He and his folks settled down in Mexico.

Legend has it that as a child Sergio was left alone at home, whilst his parents were out, with a box of crayons. When they returned they found that their young offspring had covered the walls with his fantastic drawings!

It was 1954 that he made his first commercial sale whilst still at the University of Mexico where he was studying architecture. He couldn't stop his doodling of cartoons though and this passion remained with him throughout his life. Also, whilst still at university he studied pantomime under another comic books legend, the multi talented Alejandro Jodorowsky. Perhaps it was this association that really persuaded him in his heart of hearts to take a career in graphic story telling? Who knows?

It wasn't until 1962 that the twenty five year old Spaniard moved to America, to New York to be precise, unable to speak a word of English and with only twenty two dollars to his name he made his way toward the Madison Avenue offices of Mad Magazine. There he met another Spanish speaking individual who he thought could speak English but in reality spoke less than Sergio. This individual was Antonio Prohias, the creator of the famed Spy vs Spy strip. Believing Antonio able to speak English and thereby act as a translator unfortunately this wasn't the case and the rest of the crew thought that Cuban born Antonio and Sergio were brothers.

Mad editor Al Feldstein and publisher Bill Gaines loved what they saw and employed Sergio to start what was to become, to this day, one of the more remarkable strips to come out of Mad. Not so much a strip but more the wordless 'marginal' that sat, as the expression suggests, in the margins of the magazine. Sometimes the art even curls around the page. His success was to prove to be phenomenal. He was hired in 1963 and to this day his wacky, off the wall cartoons still decorate one of America's foremost comic magazines.

It was during the late 1970's that Sergio, along with Mark Evanier, created another comic book legend, Groo the Wanderer. At this point Sergio was still pretty useless at speaking fluent English and it was with some difficulty that the two co-created this series. Create it they did however, and although it has gone through a succession of different publishers it too is still being published to this day.

Sergio's art is very cartoonish and is able to convey real human emotion without the use of speech or thought balloons. It has a 'rounded' style and although nothing like, enjoys a similar quality to Asterix the Gaul and the art of Albert Uderzo. It is a potent formula that defies fashion and modern conventions as it doesn't rely upon having to feature street slang or modern terminology but relies purely on its own ability to tell a tale with pictures, which, when you come to think of it, is how comics began in the first place.

If you haven’t heard of or read this mans work then you should as Sergio Aragonés is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the greats of the modern age.

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

The Full Monty

2011-06-15T00:06:00.001+01:00

Of the many Brit films that came out during this period this has to be among the best of them. Fun and very working class and as English as cream teas or pints of bitter. Laugh? I nearly cried...

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

'Life' by Frighty and Colonel Mite

2011-06-11T00:09:00.003+01:00

The little guy in this music video is a man I used to work with. His name is Donovan Herman Cole and is one of the few people I would claim to be a friend. This song, 'Life', made it in the UK becomming a number one hit in the Reggae chart in the late eighties early nineties.

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Proper Quotes by Proper People 3

2011-06-08T00:38:00.004+01:00

:
:
:

“I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.”

Winston Churchill

:
:
:

.
.
.
aNOtHEr qUIp FoR pOSteRity'S pLimSoLe.

Louis Prima - "Just a gigolo"

2011-06-04T00:31:00.010+01:00

First heard of Louis Prima when he and his band performed THAT song from the 'Jungle Book.' It is still one of my all time favourites along with this...

.
.
. aNOtHEr sAx SOlo IN mOTheRs sEWinG hUt.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Monty Python

2011-06-02T13:16:00.003+01:00

A mates mate often throws out the challenge as to what the top ten singles of all time are...this is one of my favourites.

.
.
. aNOtHEr nAIl IN ThE cRoSs.

Tom Waits

2011-06-01T00:06:00.006+01:00

There is something in me, something typically English that identifies with eccentricity. Of course being eccentric sometimes seems to be synonymous with being born in the British Isles but we are not alone. When I think of America and its wonderful music, I tend to think of The Kings of Leon, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan all of whom typify one aspect of what the world sees as 'Americana.'
Of course there is another side, a darker perhaps, more cranky for sure, facet that I love. I have mentioned both Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa but there are more idiosyncratic individuals, American all, that I love. Tom Waits is one of them.

He sits somewhere left of centre but still within the general framework of what we call the ‘mainstream’ but the field he ploughs grows some weird vegetables. People like Tom Waits are a rare and dying breed especially in light of TV shows such as ‘The X-Factor.’ I wonder what they would make of him?
Who cares?
I for one don’t give a damn.

. . . a sLIpPer dIpPEd INtO ThE mEMOrY pOOoL.

A Feast Of Posters

2011-05-30T18:41:00.005+01:00

.
.
.
aNOtHEr tRiP aRoUnd THe oLd CLoveR.

Proper Quotes by Proper People 2

2011-05-27T00:19:00.001+01:00

"Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say that there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe."

Frank Zappa (1940 - 1993)

.
.
.
fUrtHEr tRIpS INtO ThE mAMmArieS oF pIE .

Zappa

2011-05-24T13:04:00.001+01:00

Individuals known by their surname the world over are a rare breed. We have Dylan, Lennon, Bowie and of course this man, Zappa.

The word genius is too readily used for any highly creative individual but in this instance and with this man it is appropriate...Frank Zappa:

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Proper Quotes from Proper People 1

2011-05-20T18:07:00.002+01:00

A cucumber should be well-sliced, dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out.

Samuel Johnson

.
.
.
aNOtHEr drIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pILe.

Lewd Lingerie : Foamy The Squirrel

2011-05-19T13:31:00.001+01:00

with thanks to Oberon for the E-mail

.
.
.
sCRaPinG dIdDlE fRoM thE dOo DoO dAnG.

Carry on Regardless

2011-05-15T00:01:00.010+01:00

Featuring the priceless Kenneth Williams here is a clip from the fabulous 'Carry On' franchise...

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Dudley Moore

2011-05-06T18:14:00.000+01:00

Not only funny but musically talented too the impossible Dudley Moore...

.
.
.
aNOtHEr pOlLoP In ThE mUShY pEa SOuP.

Again, Kate Bush

2011-05-05T13:36:00.002+01:00

The ever amazing, ‘I do it my way or not at all’, Kate Bush has done it again. Other artists, too timid or too afraid to break the rules of male controlled Rock and Roll, often tend to feel they are obliged to constantly produce all new material. Kate doesn’t follow that rule any more than she does any other preposterous code. Her latest album is a piece of revision, of editing, of changing the already created and breathing new life into old songs. These tracks, many from the ‘Red Shoes’ and ‘Sensual World’ albums again show what a huge talent she is.

.
.
.
aNOtHEr pIp IN ThE mAGpIE aPpLe.

Noah and the Whale

2011-05-04T19:08:00.001+01:00

Love this band who seem, after some initial success to be making it big time with their new album. Bits of Tom Petty, Lou Reed in there somehwere but all good.

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Take Five by Dave Brubeck

2011-05-03T13:20:00.001+01:00

The drive home is often long and tedious with little to break the monotony apart from the radio. Last night I listened to Jaime Cullum's weekly Jazz show on Radio 2.
His featured guest has been, for the past fortnight, legendary Jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck. I of course was aware of Brubeck's work, after all who hasn't heard either 'Take Five' or 'Blue Rondo La Turk?'
Brubeck, now ninety, is a fascinating man who retains all humility even in the light of his huge reputation and talent. He never once, during the course of the interview appeared to get above himself.
The programme was a joy to listen to as it had, much like Cullum's incredible Clint Eastwood interview, two men divided by age but united by their passion for Jazz. It was this shared love more than anything that made the one hour show so listenable.
Unfortunately, I am unable to post either the interview or, Dave's sons played live, the brief concert so instead I have selected what must be his most famous piece...
'Take Five.'

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE sACk Of sIn.

A Feast Of Posters

2011-04-30T18:39:00.006+01:00

.
.
.
aNOtHEr fIsh CAkE iN tHe PAdDlE

Smooth Criminal

2011-04-25T20:06:00.000+01:00

This incredible piece of music, originally by Michael Jackson is from Karen’s amazing blog….

Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic
Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson for two cellos solo.
“Arranged by Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic.”

Karen’s blog can be found here: http://flipsideflorida.wordpress.com/

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Drink, Anyone?

2011-04-25T08:32:00.002+01:00

I hope anyone who reads this will forgive me for posting it in two places at once! After having seen the name of this poetic form, which sounds like a cocktail, I couldn't resist having a little fun with it. It's also appearing on Fridge Soup today, but unless you are already a visitor to the soup kitchen, as it were, this will be of no consequence to you at all! LOL

Double Dactyl

Happily drinkily,

cheekily tiddley,

here's to the toper with

bottomless pit.

Boozily tippleing-

multihysterical-

after the wine has gone,

who gives a shit?

Alison Krauss

2011-04-17T00:34:00.003+01:00

The beautiful Alison Krauss, whose soulful voice haunts this much covered song, is one of my favourite female singers. She invests such subtle layers of emotion with a sublime purity that is captivating to listen to.

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Made in Dagenham

2011-04-15T00:00:00.016+01:00

A fairly recent film but what a cracker! Set in 1968 during the heyday of Ford's of Dagenham. The film recollects the strife that female workers suffered in a predominately male world. It has Bob Hoskyn's and Gerladine Davies starring along with Miranda Richardson but it is Sally Hawkins who acts her min'skirted' bottom off as the main character. Another fine example of a British made movie.

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

The Beautiful South

2011-04-11T13:04:00.000+01:00

As Northern as mushy peas and as English as Fish 'n Chips, The Beautiful South made some perfectly crafted songs that lulled the pop charts with their catchy melodies before smacking the listener around the ears with their clever lyrics. Often poignant, always good. Here is one of their best...

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Beryl Cook by Beryl Cook

2011-04-07T13:43:00.002+01:00

If miracles came cheap or you could buy them at Sainsbury's then I would have the grand creator bring back this wonderful lady just so she could illustrate my Fekenham tales.
As Victoria Wood once said: "Ruben with jokes."

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dRoOpY bIt IN ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY mIDriFf

Arthur Ganson

2011-04-06T08:26:00.004+01:00

Always nice to discover a new artist you haven't seen before and my partner Hazel found this chap on YouTube recently by accident. We have long been fans of the work of automata and especially people like Jean Tinguely etc. Arthur who is obviously a big fan of Tinguely too and his influence shines through in many of these quirky and inventive moving sculptures.

Wikipedia says -

"Arthur Ganson is a renowned kinetic sculptor. Ganson makes mechanical art demonstrations and Rube Goldberg machines with existential themes. Ganson has held residencies in science museums, collaborated with the Studebaker Movement Theatre, and been featured in one-man shows at MIT Museum, Harvard’s Carpenter Center, the DeCordova Museum, and the Ricco/Maresca Gallery in New York. He has a permanent installation at the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He was a MIT artist-in-residence, and some of his work is on permanent display at the Gestural Engineering exhibit at MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Ganson was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1955. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of New Hampshire in 1978. Ganson appeared as a character on an episode of PBS's animated television show Arthur on December 24, 2003.

The themes of his work explore existential ideas and have been compared to the plays of Samuel Beckett. Some of his machines work to simply oil themselves, other times his extremely elaborate machines do nothing at all. Ganson is the inventor of the Toobers & Zots, a construction toyset of bendable foam pieces in abstract shapes that can be assembled into almost anything."

Sandy Denny

2011-04-03T00:44:00.000+01:00

I never purchased any of this ladies albums but fell in love with her voice courtesy of Led Zepplin's 'Battle for Evermore'
Her voice was the sound of meadow grass moving during a spring storm: beautiful

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

A Feast Of Posters

2011-03-30T18:38:00.000+01:00

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO mOthErS sEWinG boX

Fotheringay

2011-03-28T00:29:00.000+01:00

Fotheringay did not last long. They only ever made the one album, the self titled Fotherigay. They formed in 1970 when singer Sandy Denny left Fairport Convention. The band got the name from Denny's composition Fotheringay about Fotheringhay Castle, in which Mary, Queen of Scots had been imprisoned. The song originally appeared on the 1969 Fairport Convention album, What We Did on Our Holidays.

During the year of its release, the album flopped failing to attain any commercial success. It was shortly after this that Sandy Denny went on to pursue a sol career.

Fotheringay disbanded in January 1971 during sessions for a projected second album. Some of the songs later appeared on Denny's 1971 debut solo album, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens.
In 2007 the BBC announced that Donahue would be attempting to complete the abandoned project (which he accomplished using previously unheard takes from the original archived tapes). Permission had finally been granted and the work was completed by summer of the following year. The resulting album, titled Fotheringay 2, was released by Fledg'ling Records on 29 September 2008.

with gratefull thanks to Wikipeadia

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

The Art of the Cover Version

2011-03-24T17:32:00.021Z

The snobs of music make me sick. You get the highbrow mob who only listen to classical stuff and who then look down their collective noses at anyone who likes Rock or Jazz or Pop.
Then you get the Rock fans who do the same thing but with regard to pop.
Jazz is the same but maybe I am being unfair, after all taste is a very individual thing and who is to say what is right and what is wrong.
It has often been the case with both Rock and Pop to deride cover versions as they are nothing more than pointless copies. Of course neither Jazz nor Classical would agree as it the accepted and done thing to interpret another composers work. Here are three 'cover versions of Elvis Costello's classic "Shipbuilding" as performed by the man himself followed by Robert Wyatt and then June Tabor...
.

.
.

.
.
June Tabor - Shipbuilding by Proper Music Distribution
All very different, all very beautiful,
.
.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Irina Palm

2011-03-15T00:28:00.001Z

Herewith a clip from the excellent Irina Palm. A film starring Marianne Faithful as a Grandmother whose grandson has a rare disease which can only be cured by an opperation performed in Australia. Her family are broke and she has little money to give them so instead she looks for work.
Her choice of career comes in the oddest of ways; she goes to Soho where she sees a advert asking for 'hostesses.' She takes the job only to find out that the job description lacked full definition....

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Captain Beefheart 2

2011-03-11T13:23:00.001Z

Fast and bulbous still. The magic of Beefheart remains a potent force...

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

The Unthanks

2011-03-09T00:10:00.001Z

All the way from Northumbria to tickle the fancy of any southern jessie such as I. The Unthanks...

.
.
. a pIPe CLeAneR IN tHe fONdUe oF liFe.

John Martyn

2011-03-05T00:27:00.001Z

A wilful, wayward talent and one much missed, John Martyn. Another folk singer who was so much more than just a 'folkie.' Jazz and funk all combined with his slurred distinctive singing. A quite remarkable man.

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dOlLoP oF diRtY DISh WaTEr.

A Feast of Posters

2011-03-03T00:06:00.000Z

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

My Creole Belle by Taj Mahal

2011-02-28T00:19:00.003Z

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dUck IN ThE mIDdrif pANtS.

Gaddafi Duck

2011-02-27T08:45:00.001Z

New animation by my son Archie.

Richard Thompson

2011-02-25T00:57:00.001Z

After leaving Fairport Convention and the commercial failure of his first solo album, Henry the Fly, Richard Thompson then produced a string of superb albums which established him as one of Britains foremost songwriters.
Here he is demonstrating then till this day he still has the ability to write and perform incredible music...
.
.

.
.
.
a PAstEd fIsH IN ThE mEMOrY pOnD.

Sir Henry at Rawlinson's End

2011-02-23T15:07:00.008Z

Sanity is only an illusion as the very mad Vivian Stanshall, were he alive, would testify. Here is the much missed madcap at his very best...

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Pentangle

2011-02-17T00:33:00.000Z

I love the way that this band, all those years ago, fused together folk with jazz. The resultant mix still sounds fantastic...

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Sirens 1994

2011-02-14T13:09:00.002Z

Another great British movie, Sirens starring Hugh Grant, Tara Fitgerald, Elle MacPherson, Sam Neil, Hugh Grant, Portia de Rossi, Kate Fischer, Pamela Rabe and Mark Gerber. It was released in 1994 bringing to the world's attention, along with Four Weddings and a Funeral. the talents of High Grant. The film was directed by John Duigan. It portrays a period between the world wars and features the erotic desires and encounters of a libertine set of co-inhabitants when they meet the prim but aroused Tara Fitzgerald. A fabulous film that doesn't pander to porn but is truly erotic.

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Brassed Off

2011-02-10T18:07:00.005Z

Someone said that they don't make films like that any more but evidently they do, or at least they did in 1996.
Here is a five minute extract from that lovely film 'Brassed Off.'

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Dangerous

2011-02-10T00:10:00.002Z

And I only went to Roger's for a sandwich...

...said Michael

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

The Wicked Lady

2011-02-08T18:10:00.001Z

Whenever I see Margaret Lockwood she instantly reminds me of my mother in her younger days. The same dark hair, the same ruby flushed lips. This film must have been quite risqué even dark in its day but also must have been a courageous move on Lockwood's part.
.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Grangerize

2011-02-04T13:37:00.001Z

grangerize\ GRYEN-juh-rahyz \ , verb;
1. To add to the visual content of a book by inserting images not included in the original volume, often by mutilating other books. 2. To mutilate books in order to get illustrative material for such a purpose.
.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

A Feast of Posters

2011-02-01T00:13:00.001Z

They knew how to have babies back then. None of yer pain killing nonsense just a good heave-ho and Bob's your Uncle. Gas and Air? HAH!

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dOLlop INtO ThE mAd BRoOm pUDdLe.

Dials (New Improved)

2011-01-30T19:16:00.001Z

New 8 dial automata that Archie has been working on for his "A" level art project.

In a Dark Place

2011-01-30T00:05:00.002Z

Some films need to show huge amounts of blood and gore to both titilate and scare their audience. This excellent film by Donnato Rotunno doesn't. It uses a series of disconcerting scenes that coalesce into one disturbing whole. Featuring the lovely Tara Fitzgerald and Leelee Sobieski. It is a film based upon Henry James 'The Turning of the Screw.' It is well worth watching.

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

The Incredible String Band

2011-01-28T15:55:00.038Z

Not a band that is or was easy to define. they were in part folk but also physceldeliac rock/pop. They defied convention in the same was as did the Mothers or The Bonzo Dog Doh Dah Band and yet thet were nothing like either. Mike Heron, Robin Williamson and Clive Palmer were the original three but their number waxed and waned with additional memebers coming and going at will. Licorice McKechnie, Rose Simpson,McKechnie, Malcolm Le Maistre, Gerard Dott, Stan Schnier, Jack Ingram,Graham Forbes, John Gilston, Bina Williamson, Lawson Dando and Claire Smith among them.
Their album titles left one scratching ones head with bemusment:

The Incredible String Band (Elektra, June 1966)
The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion (Elektra, July 1967)
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (Elektra, March 1968)
Wee Tam and the Big Huge (Elektra, October 1968)
Changing Horses (Elektra, November 1969)
I Looked Up (Elektra, April 1970)
U (Double album, Elektra, October 1970)
Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending (Island, April 1971)
Relics (Elektra compilation, March 1971)
Liquid Acrobat as Regards the Air (Island, October 1971)
Earthspan (Island, October 1972)
No Ruinous Feud (Island, February 1973)
Hard Rope & Silken Twine (Island, March 1974)
Seasons They Change (Island compilation, November 1976)

I find it both odd and sad that bands like this are no longer relevant in this the 21st century. The times we live in, certainly as far as music is concerned, has regressed as it has become the plaything of impresarios and X-factor fat controllers Mores the pity.

.

They were thankfully anything but normal as this little ditty illustrates.

.
.
.

A fIDdLing IN tHE biG weE WaM

Futtocks End

2011-01-25T00:16:00.010Z

Without this funny old film where would Fekenham Swarberry be. It is silent as many great films often are even though it is in colour and was made in 1970. Ronnie Barker's facial expression are, as ever, priceless and seeing Michael Horden as a randy old man servant adds a wicked flavour. In reality it is a postcard from Brighton made into celluloid.

.
.
.
a pUTrId TrIp INtO A mUCkinG fUDdLe.

A Feast of Posters

2011-01-22T00:54:00.003Z

.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOoL.

Middle East

2011-01-18T00:20:00.004Z

Possibly in the same vein as Mumford and Suns, this is Middle East. Another folksy type band but with such a haunting tone to their music.
This from wikipedia pretty much sums them up.

The genre of the band themselves is difficult to specify. Whilst their MySpace profile lists the band as "indie, elements of folk, pop, post rock, country and ambience can be found throughout their music. Instruments used include guitar - both electric and acoustic, drums, hand percussion, piano, glockenspiel and trumpet. Another distinguishing feature of the band's music is the use of vocal harmony - in particular close harmony performed at times by several members
They are well worth a listen.

.
.
.
aNOtHEr mAGpIE mEMOrY.

Yet More Comic & Curious Verse

2011-01-15T07:49:00.001Z

Poems selected by J.M.Cohen

In 1959 Cliff Richard was number one in the charts with Living Doll. Was it a coincidence that the year also saw the birth of the Barbie Doll? I think not. Sadly for music, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash that year, too. But happily for poetry, this book was published. With its distinctive Penguin cover, designed by Stephen Russ, presaging the “Swinging Sixties” it is for me a veritable treasure chest of comicality, an Aladdin’s Cave of reading pleasure, a cornucopia of chuckles and as such is, in many ways, the same as, although also quite different to, its precursor The Penguin Book of Comic and Curious Verse. Unlike its older brother however, many of the poems were written specifically for the book and therefore it has a much more contemporary (as in 1959-ish) feel.

It contains moral instruction, as in this cautionary story by J.A. Lindon:
My tale begins with Junior Tom
Who made his own Atomic Bomb…

Word play:

I asked the maid in dulcet tone
To order me a buttered scone
The silly girl has been and gone
And ordered me a buttered scone

Table manners, as in John Betjeman’s How to get on in Society:
Phone for the fish-knives, Norman,
As cook is a little unnerved…

And, in full, in all its glorious and turgid awfulness, William McGonagall’s excruciating Saving a Train:
’Twas in the year of 1869, and on the 19^th of November
Which the people in Southern Germany will long remember…

I bought my copy from a market stall for £3. A bargain. Although not quite as big a bargain as its older brother was. (See my previous entry.) Buy yourself a copy. And if by chance you already have one – take it down from the shelf, blow off the fine layer of dust and treat yourself again to some of the fine, comic and curious treasures that lie within.

Peripatetic

2011-01-12T14:08:00.000Z

1. Of or pertaining to walking about or traveling from place to place; itinerant.
2. Of or pertaining to the philosophy taught by Aristotle (who gave his instructions while walking in the Lyceum at Athens), or to his followers.
noun:
1. One who walks about; a pedestrian; an itinerant.
2. A follower of Aristotle; an Aristotelian.

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dOlLop oF PUtriD PeE.

Dials

2011-01-10T17:18:00.001Z

My clever son made these from re-cycled biscuit tins. I just thought I'd share it with you. Its for his "A" level art project.

Out of the Congo and Into Bedlam

2011-01-10T16:51:00.002Z

.
.
. a dRIbBlE OF mUDdLe in tHe mEMOrY pUDdLe.

UK Comics part eight (Pat Mills)

2011-01-08T13:59:00.000Z

Where would modern British comics be without this man? In the doldrums is the answer for Pat Mills, along with John Wagner, gave breath into the dying lungs of a much maligned industry back in 1970.
Famed for his graphic and often violent slant on comic tale telling and also for his anti-authoritarianism, it was Pat Mills who was fundamental is establishing 2000AD and, if not creating the infamous Judge Dredd as that claim belongs to Matt Wagner,then establishing the characters world and setting.

Mills first started as a sub editor fo the famed D.C. Thompson & Co. Limited where he learnt his trade. In 1971 he turned freelance but it was after a stint on Warlord, when Mills was asked by rival British comic publisher, IPC, to create a comic to compete with Warlord. Mills, along with Matt Wagner and Gerry Finley-Day created Battle. It was to be a short lived project but some what of a turing point for all three men.

Mills then created Action, another indication of his ability to write modern story's albeit with his trademark anti-authority, violent outlook. In 1977, just as punk was reaching its zenith, he helped to launch 2000AD, an act that single handedly re-focused all British comics and gave the industry a new lease of life.

For me though, Mills's greatest acheivement, along with artist Joe Colquhoun, was the creation of what many believe to be the best of all British comic book story's: 'Charleys War.' A helluva claim to make when you consider the competition but very possibly true.

Mills continues to write and in recent years his Greysuit creation along with Defoe appeared in 2000AD. He also works closely with Franco-Belgian creators Olivier Ledroit and Franck Tacito.

Of all his work, the one I could recommend to anyone is Charleys War
Pat Mills Interview
http://charleyswar.tripod.com/

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

Little Big Town

2011-01-05T15:35:00.002Z

YeHAH! What a wonderful noise. All twang and redneck. More foot stomping than mind bending. All good fun and as clean as a whistle.
TOOT TOOT!!

.
.
.
aNOtHEr drIbBlE O.

The Penguin Book of Comic and Curious Verse

2011-01-03T07:42:00.001Z

The Penguin Book of Comic and Curious Verse isn’t exactly an attention grabbing title. Nor is the cover very exciting, although for we older readers the distinctive pattern does bring a waft of nostalgia. And if you ignore this book you won’t actually be in peril. But this collection of poems selected by J.M.Cohen, and its younger sister, Yet More Comic and Curious Verse, is a veritable treasure chest of chuckles, an Aladdin’s Cave of comicality, a cornucopia of pleasure and er… well… it’s full of good stuff, Much of it comic and the rest, well, at the very least, curious.

There are limericks:
There was a young lady from Wantage
Of whom the town clerk took advantage
Said the borough surveyor:
Indeed you must pay ’er.
You’ve totally altered her frontage!”

Treats from Ogden Nash:
I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree
Perhaps, unless the billboards fall,
I’ll never see a tree at all.

There are famous parodies such as Father William by Lewis Carroll:
“You are old, Father William,” the young man said,
“And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head –
Do you think at your age, it is right?”
So famous is this spoof, of course, that these days it is much better known than the original.

And poems by the Grandfather of the Pun, Thomas Hood (1789 – 1845):Ben Battle was a soldier bold,
And used to war’s alarms;
But a cannon-ball took off his legs,
So he laid down his arms.

The Penguin Book of Comic and Curious Verse lives on a shelf by my bed and I often dip into it before (never after) turning out the light. The book was published in 1952 – and my version reprinted in 1958. Next time you are passing a second hand book shop, pop in, see if you can find a copy and treat yourself. Mine cost a pound from just such an establishment which I think is amazing value.

Fairport Convention

2010-12-28T00:46:00.000Z

Fairport Convention were, and probably still are, the most famous British folk revival band. Some would say that they were less artistically skilled but that is just a matter of opinion and besides, surely the art of the age old folk tradition predates punk and even skiffle by years (if not centuries) and it remains ‘of the people and by the people.’ Fairport Convention embodied the quintessence of this movement. They gave others like them a far greater profile.
The band was formed in 1967 by a group of folk musicians, Richard Thompson (guitarist), Ian Matthews (singer) and Ashley Hutchings (bassist) who hung out in the underground clubs of London.. Their first album was Fairport Convention a mixture of original songs and covers from American folksingers. Following the suggestions of their producer, Joe Boyd, the band recruited singer Sandy Denny (originally in the Strawbs). They then dropped any Byrds’ clichés started writing their own songs.
A series of great albums followed, including ‘What We Did On Our Holidays,’ and the brilliant ‘Unhalfbricking.’
They may no longer have the same line up, they certainly are not the darlings of the music press they once were but they are still going strong. Less creative perhaps but still a great live band

.
.
.
aNOtHEr dIp INtO ThE mAGpIE mEMOrY pOOoL.

The 25th

2010-12-25T08:05:00.000Z