Sons and Daughters

What's in a name?









I was checking my mail when I saw a list on the yahoo home page of.
“Hot young actors Yahoo is into”
1. Jamie Lynn Spears
2. Chace Crawford
3. Miley Cyrus
4. Blake Lively
5. America Ferrera
6. Zac Efron

Now the trivial way corporate websites like MSN and Yahoo pad out their content is a given but firstly isn’t it strange that a big corporation like Yahoo are “in to young actors”, do you think they have joined the fan club and that?

The main reason it caught my eye is the usual weird and wonderful list of American actor’s names; Jaime is I think a scion of the Spears family. Some of the others are just asexual, Chace, Miley are they girls or boys? Also is Chace is pronounced “chase” not “Kaycee” or even “Chay sea”; she must be girl as it has it has a hint of stripper about it. Blake Livley is just a comic book private eye.

Also is America the only country name that can be used as a first name, Belgium Hodgkins doesn’t work nor does Ghana Wilkinson! The only name that seems normal is the whole cocking list is the one starting with a zed. I’m fairly sure Zachary Efron is from a Jewish background and so Zach is a usual as John Smith or similar. The other thing about these youngsters without doing any research is that I can bet all but Blake are from show biz family. Chace Crawford is probably Cindy Crawford’s daughter or sister, Miley Cyrus is no doubt Billy Ray Cyrus’s son/daughter, I think, America Ferrera must the granddaughter of Able and Zac the son of Director of “Big” Nora.

So a large media company are championing a group of young talents already blessed with large Gucci loafer in the door of success, no change there then, oh and Miley is just a silly name.

Brian Wilson is still God!

Mike Love Not War :

I've been having a sort out as part of a deal with myself on having bought a new bookcase and because it's spring.

Anyway in the bottom of a tumbler of change, screws and with some inevitabilty kinder surprise toys was my Beach boys badge. I wrote about it and Brian Wilson before here.

But here's the full text as it makes more sense with the badge.

"Badge of Honour:Which brings me to one of the nicest awards I ever got.

We saw Brian Wilson at Glastonbury 2005 on a warm Sunday afternoon, the mud had almost gone and I was there with my family and friends. Two strange things happened firstly I was surprised at how few of Brian’s songs my friends knew.

No that's not right, let me explain; they knew Beach boys songs but not the hits. They had grown up in the strange world where “pet sounds” is played more than “the Best of the Beach boys”.

Now “Pet sounds” is a masterpiece but so are the singles. Anyway once the songs were in full swing everyone was grooving and then we got our award. A women came through the crowd and came up to us and handed us some badges , saying we deserved them for dancing. On them in yellow writing said the simple universal message “Listen to the Beach Boys”. She simply smiled and slipped back into the crowd.

We were most proud and touched too. I’ve never had a badge for dancing before, of course listening Brian Wilson sing is reward enough but the badge made it doubly special. It seems that this mysterious lady does this a lot, which is a really nice and simple way of spreading happiness. I think this her on myspace. (it is she sent me an email, she’ll be handing out more badges at this years Glasto (2007)).

By the way isn’t “listen to the Beach Boys” the best piece of advertising, it’s almost zen in it’s directness, some how “listen to Mcfly “isn’t quiet the same. "

Classy peddlers, wild boars and hard men

What we learned from tonight’s telly:
Going for Gold

Rebecca Romero won a world cycling gold medal by being truly amazing, one of the most poised and determined performance I’ve seen in while. She could well win a medal at the Olympics and if she does it will go with her silver (Friday update she actually got a Gold which makes her achievement truly amazing) for rowing from the last Olympics, which as you can see is pretty remarkable. She even managed to answer the usual gormless questions after the race.

Q. How did you cope with the pressures in the run up to the race?

A. she should have given "oh give us a break I’ve just pedalled my arse off and I'm bloody having problems breathing, wasn’t winning good enough for you, you blonde tosser".

Top stuff Rebecca.


It's all Yellow
Over on Channel 4: We had a Cook’s tour of Spain with Thommi Miers; winner of Master Chef a years or so ago. I didn’t get into her round Britain tour last year but this series is much better, it’s more straightforward. She still has her bit of rough Guy something following her around, his only job seems to be to make fires and dispatch the odd animal. I have feeling unless they are stepping out, Guy may not be in the next series.

The food was great, they were in Castille this week so we got beans, boar and of course Saffron. The saffron harvesting stuff was very good, I don’t mind the old “my new friends José and Maria” shtick it’s the best way to do cooking programmes. Top dishes today were some excellent saffron meatballs and wild boar stew.

I think I’ll pass on the aubergines in honey for breakfast. It is a puzzle Spain is a country with great ham, black pudding, eggs, bread, mushrooms, beans, coffee and oranges but can’t make a decent breakfast!

ps. The Saffron pickers all had incredible yellow fingers; they looked like chain smoking navies.
Next week will be even better as they hit Galicia and the North West, mines a goose barnacle!

Cajones Update:
Just back from the shop and have met the hardest bloke in South London. I was walking back minding my own business, when a guy stumbled past stopped, called me a “c**t” and threw some curls of kebab meat at me and stumbled off.

Now I’m not the world’s greatest fighter (in fact I’ve never had a proper fight as adult) but I wasn’t going to kick off as the bloke in question was only 3ft tall (a person of restricted growth is the modern term) and quite how he’s lived this long acting like that I don’t know, the cheeky get.

Before they were famous....

Squeeze pre-history special

I rescued this book apropriately it turns out from Deptford Market recently, thinking at first it was an annual for the much loved kids TV show.

I’m not sure if it was popular at the time, but it turns out to be a chronicle of the first flourish of rock festivals in early 70’s. It’s mainly excellent pictures with some very of it’s time gushing gnomic writing. The pictures do go heavy on lithe young women dancing topless angle mind.

One thing that did catch my eye and gives the book it’s title is this before they were famous gem.

These impossibly young “hippies” (there’s a glossary at back apparently “to get High” means to take drugs) are Glen Tillbrook and Chris Difford from Squeeze and here are the lyrics to one of there early songs. Enjoy!




Photo extra: are you this man ?



Ps. the strange thing about this book is that today, festivals are so mainstream and work-a-day that the entire contents would be covered in a few weekend supplements, culture sections and magazine websites and not get anywhere near a book like this.

Easter Pictures

I think they'd had their fun and it just petered out, I think Noddy lives of his royalties.

I'm sorry but this is a bobbins name for a block of flats.

Pub house combo

I don't care that much really but how the chuff do say this?

and a suprise

Well it was raining so I made a film!
BLTP proudly presents:
"Here be Dragons!"

Yolk of the Day!

It's Twins!

Go to my flickr site to see much more dragon and egg related fun!

Oh and if it works out I should have a short film of it here by tonight! Inevitably Kinder have a website!

Suprise!

Come back tomorrow to see what's inside!

Good Friday!

So good they named a street after it!

Has anyone seen any other days of the week streets?

a little lion

Found this picture on Flickr it's wonderful in so many ways. It's by Jazz Beat.
Here's his pics

My own little corner of Flickr Giant Plastic Ice Cream Cones goes from strengh to strength with 15 members and 31 pictures!

Brief Encounters

What happened next?

City life offers regular snap shots into other people’s lives with no chance to find out what happened next? Little dramas glimpsed in passing on the bus or train, chance eaves drops caught on the tube. Like the to butch Germanic women in ski coats arguing on the steps of saint Paul's the other day, how can you have such a fierce argument at 8:50 in morning and still take cheesy photos?

Or the guy on the bendy bus this morning. He was a youngish Asian guy in the typical lower level financial industry attire; cheap suit, big tie, hair gel but an anorak and his rucksack straps were over both shoulders. He looked like he was on his way to work (freshly showered and ironed), so nothing strange at all except he was cradling a cute little black kitten! He was stroking and cooing to it very attentitively. So was it “take your pussy to work day? Or did he just hide it in his desk? Was he going home which still doesn’t solve the quandary? Did it go something like this “Lee can I borrow your stapler? Oh you seem to have litter of kittens in your desk draw” We will never know.


Less than a few steps later, I was almost struck by an ageing rusty eastern European looking jeep. I was about to remonstrate (I was in the right for a change) when I saw the occupants, at the wheel was a large bear of a man in a huge Russian style fur hat, large coat and muffler. In the back was clearly his babushka, an older woman also in a Russian fur hat and coat holding a large cream cake, her head jerking back from being inches from the icing. She was shouting at her son(?) whilst holding this cake precariously, it was like some strange Dadaist play.
Had they driven all the way from Murmansk like this? Would the cake get to Tooting in one piece? Did they notice me giggling?


Lastly I’m sure I saw Nick Cotton walking up Leather lane the other day, I’m not sure what he‘s doing now a days but he was carrying a brief case which didn’t seem an actorly thing to do. Maybe he’s fallen back into his bad old ways (he is still “alive” in Eastenders?) and has become a bag man for a dodgy jeweller in Hatton Garden, or may be he’s a mason it was one of those sort brief cases? We will never know.



Desperate car ads of our time?

33ADFX

I was stuck on the bus halfway up Ludgate Hill (the one up to Centre Paul's from Fleet st) and saw a notice board on a Church advertising their Easter Service.

Now it did say "service with Carols" which could be strange if we have forgotten that carols are just songs; they don't have to be sung only at Christmas.

No the bit that got me was the next line "service with sound effects".
What the dickens could was that all about?
This led me to thinking and having a play with my sound editing software and I think it may just sound like this!

BLTP presents: Holy week in sound effects

(there's also a pithy precis of Christian teaching at the end bible fans)
Happy Easter to one and all or spring or whatever you want to celebrate.

Snap

Pavement Art: Gallery of the lost and found #6
I found 3 soggy cards on Covent Garden Plaza, the remains of a card sharpers scam, I choose one it seemed approporiate and guess what I didn't .... find the Lady!

Last Night's TV

No Relief in sight....

Started watching Sports relief, but the good causes aside it was rubbish. Top Gear has finally turned into the Chuckle brothers (without the jokes). Simply come dancing is just getting dull, the Parky and Ross talk off was tedious beyond words. One of the main problems was that the sport angle which makes for worthy but dull TV at times. The BBC's idea of a sporting joke is some one in the crowd at sunderland wearing in an afro wig. Sport is rarely shown in the way that fans interact/enjoy it, there's no joy or excitement, obsession, anger, wit, humour, in the presentation no one takes the mick out of stars, it's one big boys club.

I hear good things about football Am (but I've never seen it) but even people as bright as Clair Balding never feel free to bring that extra spark to sports shows. So we get Gary Bland Linneker, Gaby professional but dull Logan. It probably comes down to the fact that the sporty types at school were always a bit dull being able to do "keepy ups" spared them leering to tell a joke or have something interesting to say and so when they get to MOTD it's just more of the same worthy dullness.

Which may be what's wrong with Sports relief, the whole thing lacks the excitement of great sport or joie vivre of great entertainment. It was just dull. Also I've never seen why they have to support charities in Britain as well as developing countries. It always smacks of pandering to the small minded and mean spirited. We are plenty rich enough to fund all the youth work and drugs counseling we need in Britain if we choose to, let this sort of money be spent on those who really need it.

I also watched a documentary about the chieftains on BBC4 which was interesting, I now know all I need to know about them. It was a bit strange mind as it made out that they existed almost in a vacuum, no mention for instance of the Dubliners, Christy Moore etc.

Also the main man Paddy Maloney had one of the those sad comb overs like Bobby Charlton that he started when he was in his 20's and has always kept ; if only he'd just shaved it off then ,he would've looked like a musician in all the pictures not a coach driver.

There were some scenes of the Corrs in the film, who are strikingly attractive women (I know this isn't news but they are striking).

ps the sourness towards sport relief isn't because I had a dentist pulling my face around yesterday afternoon honest, it was just all a bit meh!

Not just Spam this is M&S spam...

Spam seems to be getting middle aged:

A few years ago I seemed to get nothing but enticements to see pictures of naked ladies (porn; a young mans fascination) then came money scams (the first job) then it was little blue pills and cheap Prozac (the midlife crisis) and now it all seems to scams involving M&S or ASDA shopping vouchers that or trips on the Eurostar.

What’s next sanatogen, the people’s friend and Shackleton’s original high seat chairs?

Going to hell in a sweet bag

Sugar coating bitter lessons

I saw these treats in Smith’s today, I can’t but help but think they highlight a moral weakness at the heart of British society. In the olden days Rowntree’s fruit pastilles were randomly packed pot luck thing, you had to take your chances and eat the next one in the tube as it was revealed; be it red, black, green or even yellow.

Of course you only wanted the red and black ones but had to learn to accept the yellow and green as they gave moral balance and structure to life. Fruit pastilles were a small philosophical lesson in a paper wrapper that life isn’t easy that you have to take the rough with the smooth.

But no in this New Labour world of all shall have prizes no one needs to suffer to attain anything quick fix hoody wearing mobile phone ringtone blaring alcopop sodden xbox playing tattooed touchy feely world you can have just the red and black ones or worse still just black!

God help us if there’s ever another war

Things you see on the way to the pub

Holborn Pictures

Fig1. Fig1.

self captioning pictures.

The place to go for a Posh Sausage sandwich?

Hello space boy

"As Mr Darcy fired up his Mig 15"

From other people's blogs I see the idea was to post this "meme" thing in the main blog not the comments so here goes. If you want to post the the next 3 lines after the first 5 on page 123 of you current read feel free, I won't be passing on any chain letters or spam any day soon.

To prove that I'm Komrad Space Boy here's a bit from Ascent by Jed Mecurio who wrote the gruesomely wonderfully bleak "Bodies" for telly.

“At Graham bell that day, Yefgenii didn’t fly. The whole country was celebrating the victory over the Americans, Yefgenii admired Gagarin’s valour, admired the qualities he must’ve had in order to win selection ahead of all the other cosmonauts.
He drank toasts with the other men. They were young, they were full of vigour.”

all things must pass away

Sadly my Daffs have faded also my flash died, but luckily my photo software revived the dark picture to give this weird super 8 looking shot. Of course the only song we need now.

All things must pass away by George Harrison
ps this is the wrong place to say anything but nice things about the Beatles!

wasted street names part 2

A week or so I talked about people chucking away great street names on nondescript streets here's a case in point top name but the streets is barely 20 yards long just off Forest Hill, high st (not a thrilling thoroughfare to be honest).

Pie chart

It’s pie week.


So let’s answer some important crusty old questions.


In pork pies Pink (northern) or Grey (them there southerners) meat?


Potato and or butter pies are these just evidence that Lancastrians are tight?


When you have pie and mash with your lady friend liquor?


Mint sauce on mushy peas yes or no?


In a pasty are carrot and peas kosher?


Are there any kosher pies?


Pasties again: traditional or flaky?


Has anyone ever eaten a ginsters hot?


All these weird stilton and banana fancy dan pies aren’t they just wrong?

Does a Gregg’s veggie slice count towards your five a day?


Has anyone had a pie from abroad that was worthy of the name?


Brown or red sauce?


Has anyone had any Denby dale pie?


Is apple and bramble pie the best sweet pie?


Is it immoral to eat tinned custard?


Does the Mitre pub in Holborn Circus have the most blokey lunch menu ever i.e. cut up pork pies, sausage and toasties?


What about those pork pies with pickle already in them aren’t they just weird?


Does anyone care what the people of Bakewell Derbyshire think what a real Bakewell tart should be?

loads of lovely pictures of crusty treats over at flickr


Finally what’s the best pie you’ve ever had?

Barnsley 1 Chelsea 0

Whilst basking in the glory I did get a bit annoyed about the FA over here.

Barnsley 1 Chelsea 0

Brighten my Northern Sky...
or how I watched the game in the gloom.

Picture the scene a tense match, so tense I had to take a turn round the block during half time to calm down. So when we score I jump up and my can/arm smashes the light into the ceiling breaking bulb and fusing the lights.

Which tripped the whole fuse box, off goes the telly, cue frantic searching for a fuse and my torch etc while trying to get the freeview box to warm up again. Thankfully we had still scored when the telly came back on again, so much for long life bulbs though.

Here's a good instant mash up based on another bunch of stubborn northerners, 300 aside anyone.

BARNSLEY 1 CHELSEA 0 (NIL, NOWT, ZERO, ZILCH)

Barnsley 1 Chelsea 0

In a Lancaster far far away

this may only appeal to fans of Star wars and War films!

The train now on Deptford High St

Had to use Deptford Station this morning (the oldest in use station in the world fact fans) I hadn't been down that end of the High st for a week or two and would you know it the trains are invading the High St.
Apparently it's going to a cafe which is always a good idea. It's part of doing up the station (it has been over 160 years after all!). For more skinny on SE8 go here.

This should've been "a things I found in the street post really" but then again you don't really stumble upon a 20 tonne slam door train carriage.

Facespanner update

Where can I find a ready supply of victorian upper lip hair stylings?

why here of course, thanks to the Moore group for this!

Oh, that's how to do that....

Top tips for Bloggers (sort of)

Here are some things I’ve learnt overtime which may help fellow bloggers sorry if this sucking eggs.
Sorry if they don’t apply to Mac users I imagine Macs being so easy to use Steve job will personally do these things for whilst whispering in your how wonderfully and creative you are just by owning a white laptop.

Total control: cuttin' 'n' pastin'.

Sometime you can’t right click etc to cut and paste in dialog boxes I’m thinking the blogger post editing box here.

You can use keyboard short cuts
To Cut press ctrl and X (looks like some scissors)
To Copy press ctrl and C (C for copy)
To Paste press ctrl and V (it isn’t x or c!)
This works in lots of occasions.

Print screen :
I’ve seen this button on my keyboard for years and pressed it with no effect only to find out the other day you then have to paste the screen grab into a word doc as pictures doh!





Less of a tip more of words of support
Many bloggers are obsessed with how many hits their blog gets, obviously we all like to be popular and I don’t have magic wands other than put yourself about a bit, be nice to people who do turn up (only if they are nice themselves mind) .

But do bear in mind that when it comes to comments on the web well over 95% of surfers are consumers, very few people on the net add content i.e. upload video to YouTube, or pictures to flickers or leave comments so if you have a 100 hits and only get 5 comments that par for the course.

That being said I do wonder about the person who visited loads of my pages and downloads some tunes and then didn’t leave the merest ta. Manners cost nothing especially so on the net.

Spring is Springing

My weekend Daffs have all opened talk about instant sunshine.

street buzz

Pavement Art: The gallery of lost and found #5


Didn’t pick this up in the street but it was parked around the corner from my gaff or should that be drum (I've lived in the “mist” sorry smoke for ages not quite master the local idiom though) anyway near my flat. I was surprised they need to advertise the stuff as Red Bull it’s so ubiquitous. I must admit to being espresso fan myself if I need a boost, Taurine never does much for me.

I’m opening a book that the “promotion team” who drive this thing tend to over the use the phrase “guys” even when addressing a mixed sex group. The boot will also contain at least one branded base ball hat. Any way on the subject of promotional cars here’s the daddy the outspan mini, why they never went into mass production I don’t know.








What’s your favourite fruit or vegetable shaped promotional vehicle?




I was going to try and use “apples and pears” in this post but my gaff/drum/flat is only on one floor...

Beer, whiskey, cigarettes

What we learned from this weekends tv.
Madmen:
I tuned in because if I’m honest the ads have been on all the time. It’s by a writer from Sopranos and involves the daily lives of a group of early 60’s New York ad men. My initial problem with the whole thing ( as with studio 60) was who cares it’s about adverts, who cares if they don’t get made or if the admen struggle to come with campaigns it's only crappy adverts.

Also the people in advertsing don't have a really good press and most of the characters in first episode didn’t dispel any of this loathing.
In fact it came over like a spoof, the male execs where leery and cocky, the female (mainly admin) staff where only there to wed some guy from the top floor. It may broaden out but I’m not hopeful. There was also comedy levels of smoking and drinking which may be true to life but looked a bad Fry and Laurie sketch.

In order to bring us into the plot Elizabeth Moss (Jed Bartlet's daughter from the West Wing) is the new girl in town so we get a tour of the office. Her plot line seemed rushed, into the space of one day she managed to get put on the pill and go shopping (all in her lunch time) ending the day shagging the slimiest bloke in the office who just turned up drunk at her flat .

The lead character may have depths but apart from shagging behind his wifes back seemed to show his emotion by rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Around the world in 80 gardens:
Was in the far east this week, Monty Don pointed out something I’ve only just recently become aware of. For years I also thought Chinese landscape art was highly stylised all steep gorges weird pointy mountains, pines clingling to crags. But it turns out that’s what bits of China look like, so in fact the drawings are actually super realistic. Monty showed this by going to yellow mountains which looks like something off a porceline plate and are the forms the Chninese style their gardens around.

He also bravely atttempted to explain Japanese zen gardens and made some in roads at least getting past the changing rooms glib approach normaly seen on tv ie some gravel the odd stone and a black painted screen. It would have been good to see some modern Chinese and Japanese gardens.

The best sales team in all of Utoxeter

Bunches of sunshine

Happy Mothers Day!
Down the market yesterday there were several Mothering Sunday gift offers being touted, I think the Red Blaze gift set (below) is really only suitable for sexy mothers!

I think a couple quids worth of Daffs is always best here’s some shots of a bunch I got becuse they looked good.

ER MRSA OUTBREAK

Watching ER:

How come County Hospital isn't riddled with dangerous infections? Most episodes the doctors run about in the streets, go to the diner across the road, snog long lost friends all in their scrubs and I've never seen them wash their hands!

Also the "English" accents in tonight's episode where the usual atrocious American TV nonsense.

Best case obviously Daphne Moon's random family manc come cockney in Frasier!