Beatles ??

More like the Beatles than any cover version of any Beatles song, "Lies" was in fact - or allegedly - written
by "Beau Charles", the lead vocalist of this odd looking American band called The Knickerbockers.

I'm not sure whether he's the one playing the Rickenbacker guitar, or the one who's
playing the silent saxophone; but the whole thing sounds very like Lennon & McCartney to me.

The Bradshaws

Manchester's premier family, Alf, Audrey and Billy Bradshaw have to deal with
Billy's hiccups...

Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons  is a great site for freely useable media files.

These are from past photo competitions.

Pahoeoe Fountain

Sunset... that's all it says

Lake Zug, Switzerland

1936 Flash Gordon

In which King Vultan tries to electrocute Flash - but luckily the suspiciously

under-dressed Dr Zarkov has an electro - stimulator in his laboratory.

Don't ask.

Thunderbirds Intro

Photos from the air

A selection of photos from Boston.com

Barcelona

Mount Kilimanjaro

Wheat fields in Washington

Lesser Antilles

The Brush lives here

It might not be great art, but it's colourful, cheerful and I like it.

From Photobucket

Witty Photos

These witty photos were originally posted at smashingapps

Ben Harper - "Excuse Me Mister"

Ben Harper is wonderful. This is from his 1995 album "Fight for your Mind".

I was reminded of this song recently when watching coverage of Tony Hayward, BP's
CEO, being grilled by US politicians about the oil spill in the Gulf.

OK Go - End Love

Perhaps a better video than song, but it's pretty entertaining.

You can listen to their album here

These are the same guys who made the famous "treadmill" video which you can watch here

Rather than Manchester: Old Havana

A captivating short film of "Old Havana" with bewitching music.



HABANA VIEJA from Van Royko on Vimeo.

Hotel in Holland

The INNTEL Hotel in Zaandam

I think this is better than a concrete block type hotel; but it's striking rather anything beautiful. 

Zandaam apparently has many houses like this, but usually side by side.

Here is one - in Claude Monet's painting 'The Blue House in Zandaam' (1871)

How it should be done - Football Commentary

People in Yosemite

A fascinating time-lapse video that shows how people behave in Yosemite.



People in Yosemite: A TimeLapse Study from Steven M. Bumgardner on Vimeo.





The people look like a huge colony of ants on a day out, particularly climbing the rockface.

M. Ward - RequIem

This track, Requiem, comes from one of Matt Ward's older albums called Post-War (2006).

I really enjoy his music. If you like what you've heard, you can listen to the whole of his
new album, Hold Time, here at Merge Records.

Who did this?

Friday evening we found an egg buried in the planter outside the front door.
It had been completely buried - it's only come out for this photo opportunity.

There was much speculation about squirrels and milkmen, but the answer to how it
got there may well be here.


It had gone by 7am Saturday morning, so the hungry thief had been back.

Travel Photos

There are some really good photographs at the Guardian Online travel section,
which includes a monthly competition. The last topic was 'travel.'

Below is a remarkably similar photo I took in Venice some years ago.
I didn't enter...
but when the 'fruit and veg on a gondola' competition is on, who knows.

American Music Club - 'All the lost Souls'

Mark Eitzel's American Music Club make great music.




If you like it, you can listen to the album at Merge Records, here

The Nativity - Like you never heard it before.

The text below is as written and read by John Bell just before Christmas 2004.
I found it on the BBC website.
To hear the original broadcast click here and listen to 23/12/2004.
It's worth listening to - I only heard it the once 6 years ago and never forgot it.
Good old Beeb - it was still there.
Enjoy.

We tend to think that Christmas is a time for children. That's why we get them to do nativity plays. But do they learn the story? Here's one child's testimony: Christmas is a time for children because the baby Jesus was a child. So were his mum and dad. Mary was 10 when she had her baby, because that is how old Sheryl Foster is, and Joseph was 11 like Ravinder Singh.Joseph was not the real daddy of Jesus. The real daddy was Mr. Montgomery, our school janitor who is also Santa Claus. Mary was pregnant, but stayed very thin, unlike my mum when she was having wee Sandra. Mary always wore a blue nightie, and Joseph wore a dressing gown like Ravinder Singh's dad. Mary and Joseph had to travel from the back of the school hall to Bethlehem on a donkey called Gerry, after Mr. Montgomery the janitor. Caesar Augustus wanted the whole world to be taxed. That is why everybody went to Bethlehem and it was so crowded. People had even come from Africa and Australia because there is no snow there. Mary decided she was going to have the baby right away in the snow, because there was no room at the inn. The innkeeper had a wife whose name was Veronica. She was also one of the ugly sisters who had big feet. The innkeeper's name was Lo, because Joseph said to him, 'Lo, my wife is great with child.' Lo took Mary and Joseph to a dirty cowshed. It was full of steam and smells from the pigs and cows and hens who had gathered together for the census. Mary had her baby in front of everybody. When he arrived everybody realised that she was dressed in blue because she knew it was going to be a boy. She called him Jesus and immediately he sat up and pointed to the roof where there was a draught. Some shepherds came to see the baby. They had been told by the angels to bring him a lamb. Joseph put it in the manger beside the baby Jesus. The shepherds got in just before the three wise men who wore Mrs. Anderson's silk scarves after they promised not to wipe their nose on them. The wise men had gifts for the baby - a big stone covered with gold paper, a perfume bottle full of cochineal and incense sticks. Joseph put these in the manger next to the lamb and the baby Jesus.Then the shepherds and the wise men knelt down in front of the baby Jesus and sang Jingle Bells. Then Mr. Montgomery came in dressed as Santa Claus, but Mrs Anderson shouted at him because it was not time yet. If you find this funny, Happy Christmas. If you're offended, stop asking children do the nativity play. It's really a story for adults.

copyright 2004 BBC

South Park Episodes and Clips

Clips from lots of shows and some full episodes are at southparkstudios.co.uk

Absolutely guaranteed to cheer me up after a bad day.

Carolina Chocolate Drops - "Genuine Negro Jig" Live

I was intrigued when the Carolina Chocolate Drops received great reviews
for their new album so I listened to it, and liked what I heard.
But the music and the band really come to life - as the clip above and these pictures
demonstrate - in a live performance.

There is nothing better than being there to see the music live.
So, this is the next best thing.

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

This is fantastic time lapse film-making. His website is here.

Most Dangerous Toy Ever?

This science kit was on sale to the public in the 1950's and actually
contained 4 kinds of Uranium Ore - and of course a geiger counter.

There just aren't as many opportunities to buy radio-active gifts for
your kids in 2010.

More about it here at gajitz.com

Preparing for the World Cup

Football fan or not, there are some wonderful photos of South Africa getting ready at Boston.com

The link is posted below the picture, and should open in a new window.

Visit Preparing for the World Cup - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Devil's Little Finger (feat. Bozo) DEMO by Jeanie in the Radiator

I can boast that I know some of these very talented people really well...
I'd like you to imagine that's because I'm really well connected, but actually
it's because I'm related to 2 of them.


Damn the way talent skips a generation. That would be my generation.


Use this Link to myspace page and play Devil's Little Finger (feat. Bozo) 

Ron Sexsmith: Nothing Good

I love this guy's music...

Miss Lulu and the Teaspoon Shortage

My daughter Charlie interviewed Lucia Holm for The House London Blog recently.

Her photography is amazing; her intriguingly titled blog is
Miss Lulu and the Teaspoon Shortage.

Rather than Manchester: Venice

Around Venezia from Icam on Vimeo.

How Mummy stays Yummy

I saw this in Regent's Park the other day. 

There was a trainer shouting instructions to all the mummies, and 

once  they were lined up on the path, off they went.

It wasn't a race exactly, but whoever found themselves at the back 

had to overtake all the others and get to the front, and so on and on.

The kids didn't have crash helmets on or anything. 

But they were mainly asleep.

The I Want One Category

Stylish Mouse Pads; they look much better than the freebie rubbish on my desk.

You can see this and other new designs by Kitmen Keung here

The Black Keys: Tighten up

Playground love and violence



The Black Keys - Tighten Up - Official Video from Chris Marrs Piliero on Vimeo.

Great song and video

Ponzi Begins

Will nothing stop people believing?  90 years on and cases -
huge cases of people falling for this scam are still cropping up.



Ponzi from Strike Anywhere on Vimeo.