Queen Elizabeth the first and the birth of tabloid newspapers.

The other day I saw an interview with Sandra Bullock about her recent marriage to Jesse James. It mentioned how he might call herself Sandra James in future. The only trouble with this interview was that it wasn't given by her. It was made up of things that she had supposedly told to "A source close to Sandra Bullock". While it is true that she has now married Jesse James, the owner and head fabricator of West Coast Choppers * (who is descended from the old west outlaw), she hasn't given any interviews about it. Neither has Jesse. When asked about the relationship on '60 mins' a while ago all Jesse would say was "I don't want to talk about her, that's personal."
Of course tabloids have always been the same. Ever since the reign of Queen Elizabeth the First. For a start there was the rumour that she was in fact a man. Having fallen ill and died at a country house as a child she was replaced with a boy from the village. Then there was the time she became engaged to a French noble to cement the peace between England and France. One London newspaper ran with the headline 'Hop Off Frog'. The engagement lasted less than a day. As her lady's in waiting talked her out of it with lurid story's of the pain of childbirth.
The headline writer of course went on to a somewhat chequered future. His descendants fell on hard times and by the reign of Queen Victoria one had taken to petty theft. He was sent to Australia. Still all was not lost as one of the descendants of this convict went back into the newspaper game. He now owns most all the newspapers in the UK, and most of the broadcast media as well. His name Rupert Murdock.**

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*In the UK you can buy West Coast Choppers apparel from WCC-UK
**Okay I was having fun with the bit about Murdock. But the 'Hop Off Frog' headline did happen.

Bookshops after dark

There are some things that are better done after dark. Like going on a first date, watching fireworks and so on.. For me there is nothing better than shopping after dark. Especially when going to a bookshop. I don't know why but everything seems just a little bit better when the sun goes down. The big Waterstones in Piccadilly is always great after dark. But alas it closes at 9pm, as dose Foyles. In the summer this just will not do. By far the best with a closing time of 11pm is Borders in Charring Cross road. As it has some nice big windows for you to look out of as the city flash's by. It almost makes it look nice out there.
There are some other sorts of shopping that work well after dark. A trip to Harrods for Christmas gifts should always end after the sun has set. Plus Lakeside and Bluewater look wonderful after dark. Well they couldn't look much worse could they?
There is only one thing that is even better than late night book shopping and that has to be a late night viewing at an art gallery. particularly the Tate Modern. Which again due to it's big window's and view, this time of the river, is the perfect backdrop to an evening.

Some intresting lines

It's always good to hear the phrases that sportscasters use. Some of them are really good. Stand out one today was at the MotoGP in Donnington. It was a wet race, more like a power boat race than a motorcycle race. One of the BBC men described the weather as being "Wetter than an otters pocket."

James Doohan RIP

James Doohan best known for the role of Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott of the original 'Star Trek' crew died yesterday ages 85.
He started out on radio in his native Canada where his talent for accents and voices sometimes meant that he was the only cast member in radio plays. He saw action during World War 2 and was at the D Day Landings, where he lost the middle finger of his right hand. This event was used in the film 'Saving Private Ryan'.'Scotty' was introduced in the second Pilot episode of 'Star Trek' and became very popular with fans. Originally the character was to have been minor but by the shows third and final series he was ever present, and third in command of the ship. Originally the character didn't have a first name, so Doohan gave him his own middle name. Montgomery, he also gave the character his hobby of reading technical manuals.
His last appearance as 'Scotty' was in the 1994 film 'Star Trek:Generations' although this was appearance was contemporary with the original series, 'Scotty' appeared in the 'Next Generation' series which was set 75 years after the first, due to some complex technobabble with the transporter.
For the first ST feature Doohan invented the Klingon Language, basing it on Welsh and Yiddish. This language has gone on to be spoken by more Americans than French, and more British people speak Kingon than speak German.

James Mongomery Doohan
1920-2005

Hmmm

Was going to write about the cricket. But it seems there are more explosions. It's like stepping back to 1989.

Harry Potter (yawn)

So the time is nigh for another 'Harry Potter' book. Now just one in a gaggle of kids books released each year. Personally I can't see what all the fuss is about. Rowling is far from being a great writer. At least one of the Potter books featured a total crib from Peaks 'Gormenghast'. Even ultra Potter fan Stephen Fry commented that he didn't have to do too much work for the first Potter film, as it was basically the same as his role in the BBC's version of 'Gormenghast'.
Then there is the tired array of other celebrates who love to read the books. Adults shouldn't read Harry Potter books. They are for children, they are written for children and as such are written in a simplistic style where everything is the neat and you don't have to put too much effort in. Since adults started reading the Potter book's there has been a decline in the quality of books for adults. With more and more writers who write books with adult themes but in the style of a children's book being celebrated. Zadie Smith is the biggest culprit here. When I read a book I like to be drawn in to the story. I like to have to use my imagination to try and see through the eyes of the characters. I don't need everything in a perfectly linear story where everything is explained and you don't need to to think.
I think perhaps that is why I can make perfect sense of David Lynch films, like 'Mulholland Dr', wile most people don't get it. To me that film is very simple. It's Pottermania I don't get.

The shameless art of self promotion.

If any of you out there have ever wonderd what the heck I sound like then you can find out. As tomorrow at 15:30hrs (BST) I have a new radio series starting on Resonance 104.4fm. 'Sporting Legends' will cover all sorts of sports topics, but the series starts off with the 1976 F1 season.
If you live in London you can listen in by tuning your radio to 104.4fm, or in the rest of the world by following this link to the Resonance Audio Page.

Going into London

Today I went into work, as an engineer at Resonance104.4fm. This meant travelling on the underground. It wasn't so bad really, strangely my journey's took less time than they normally would. Although on the way back there had been a delay at West Ham.
There was a sense of apprehension in the air although not all that bad. Just like it was back when the IRA were active in the capital. Although I did find myself touching my St Christopher each time the tube entered a tunnel.
Later I went into St Patrick's, Soho Sq., and lit a candle, it was after leaving there that I noticed a stand for the Evening Standard. This had on it a different type of poster than they normally carry. It is something that is very familiar to us now. From September 11th, Madrid, and the Tsunami. This was a poster showing the faces of those people still missing. People who are loved and cared for and who haven't been able to contact there families. It is early days, some of those people could be in a hospital basically fine but not able to get to a phone. Others will have been the passengers on the No 30 bus who will now only be identified by DNA testing. Worse still others will have been taken at Kings Cross, and are still laying where they fell. The wreckage making it too dangerous for the emergency services to get to them.
With hope there will be stories in the papers which are carrying this gallery of the missing over the next few days of how there photo in there paper has helped reunite people. But for now the faces of the disappeared look out on us. In there faces we see our selves, and it brings the tragedy all the more into focus

Never give in.

"We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."
Winston Churchill 1940




"They are trying to use the slaughter of innocent people to cow us, to frighten us out of doing the things that we want to do, of trying to stop us going about our business as normal as we are entitled to do. They should not and they must not succeed."
Tony Blair 2005

Never forget.

A Bad Day

Yesterday the city was in a happy mood. London had won the right to host an Olympic Games. Although not all the people were happy, especially those of us who will see our arts funding cut. There was a sense that the city was going places.
This morning all that changed, and we were returned to the dark day's on the 1980's. Although this time the attack was committed by persons with a different cause. Four co-ordinated explosions targeting public transport happened just after 09:00 hours this morning. As yes there has not been a confirmed casualty list. There has been confirmation that people have lost there lives, and that some of the victims are now in intensive care units.
The timing of the attack, witch coincides with the start of the G8 conference in Scotland, is not random. The police in London have been stretched with 500 extra officers being sent to deal with violence at the G8 just last night. We have to face the prospect that terrorist agent provocateurs were in Edinburgh and Gleneagles these last few days making sure that the focus was on the trouble there.
I'm sure that after the weekend the city will be running as normal once more. Although with a heavy heart. We are used to such events here, the prolonged campaign in the `80's and `90's built in a resilience to such outrages. The people who commit these acts do so in the hope of disrupting the lives of as many people as possible, and sending us into a siege mentality. The best form of resistance now is to pick up and carry on as normal. An attitude which frustrated Hitler no end, and will frustrate those behind this attack.