Mr Bronson RIP

And so another icon of my youth has passed away. Micheal Sheard AKA the baldy, wig-wearing teacher from hell, Mr Bronson of Grange Hill fame.

Sheard's career also included the dizzy heights of Admiral Ozzel in The Empire Strikes Back and, apparently, stepping into Hitler's boots at least five times - not literally I think (on which note, surely there's a museam somewhere in the world that has Hitler's footwear - I can feel a web-search coming on).

I met Mr Sheard once in the green room of a Doctor Who convention and he struck me as a little eccentric to say the least. He wore a lot of badges as I recall...

Anyway, raise a glass to Mr Bronson, no-one wore a rug better (save maybe the Shat...)

Affirmative, Master

Got far too excited about the return of K9 in the new Who and the pic of the seriously battered mechanical mutt. Anyone else expecting a remote control K9 in the shops for Christmas 2006?

FBI stages fake wedding

I love this story I found online...

"FBI stages fake wedding, invites mobsters, arrests gift-bearing guests
The FBI staged a fake wedding between two undercover agents and invited a ton of alleged Chinese mafia bosses (who had come to know the agents as business associates) to it, then arrested them when they arrived:
The government said Monday that the pair had spent four years investigating a sophisticated racketeering enterprise suspected of smuggling into the United States vast quantities of black-market cigarettes, high-tech weapons, Ecstasy, counterfeit Viagra and virtually undetectable counterfeit $100 bills...

"They were literally being taken out of their limos and into custody," one Justice Department official said. "Some of them were bearing gifts — expensive ones like Rolex watches."

Genius! I'm starting the movie treatment now...

The World's Worst Cover Versions... Probably - Track One

The beginning of my new compilation album 'The World's Worst Cover Versions... Probably', a not-available in the shops collection of 'hits' that will have their original performer spinning in their grave, even if they're not dead...

First up, as just introduced to me by the wacky, zany Eliane Paige on Radio 2 -

Track One:
John Lennon's Imagine by Cilla Black, with backing vocals by Sir Cliff.

Imagine no credibility, it's easy if you try...

PS. In case you were wondering how bad this is, Adam Webb, reviewing the album Cilla Black, Beginnings on BBCi in 2003 called this track sheer 'Horror'. He wasn't wrong...

Unbelievable!

So we have spam in our mail, spam on our phones and now spam on our blogs.

This week I've had two comments here on the blog that are just plain spam, one about medicine on my last posting (which I've removed) and bizarrely one for antique iron beds!?!?! Well, that makes a change from viagra I guess...

Anyway, how annoying is that...

Holy Bat Meaning!

I never knew that the Batman TV theme meant so much. Check out this detailed examination of the deeper meanings of the Adam West show theme.

Here's a little taster:

"Last verse: Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Batman
A final triumphant restatement of all that which this song represents is here encapsulated in a brilliant point of exclamation. Forceful and at the same time plainly stated, we here are shown Batman in full, unvarnished truth. Full of aspiration, yet subject to the pitfalls of mortal life, Batman simply is."

Who would have thunk it?

It's Frank's world...

... and I've been living in it this week, (but hey when do I ever stop living in it Pally!)

Went to see the Rat Pack tribute show on Wednesday at the Bristol Hippodrome. Ring-a-ding brilliant. The guy who played Dean didn't really look like him but sounded scarily close. The weakest of the three was Sammy, but it must be impossible to imitate a man who could sing, dance, do impressions, play drums etc etc.

And then there was Frank. The guy was so like him it was scary! Voice. Mannerisms. Walk. Looks. It must be a little freaky to be so like another human being and spend your life pretending to be him. Did he just wake up one day and think, my heaven's I'm the spitting image of Frank Sinatra. I wonder if I can sing like him? Whoops I can! I know what I'll do with my life...

I wonder if he even likes Frank. It would be a real shame if he was a mad Daniel O'Donnell fan and hated old Blue Eyes...

And then last night there was Sinatra: Dark Star on BBC1. This massively hyped documentary promised to blow the lid off Sinatra and prove that he was linked to organised crime. Shame it was pants and merely rolled out every thing we already knew. Shock Horror! Frank knew hoodlems! The Mob ruled hollywood and club land! Never! He was once accused of carrying two million in a briefcase to cuba! Well bless me!

or should I say... Yawn!

None of this is new. None of this is a shock. None of it was in any way revolutionary. Just a load of wrinkly old men and women claiming their five minutes of fame and looking grave as they 'revealed' what we already knew.

Never mind, I thought. BBC4 has a classic Sinatra concert straight afterwards. Oh, hang on they've cancelled that and put an appalling documentary about the song 'My Way' on instead which talked about everyone who sang the song, largely ignoring the Chairman of the Board.

What a disappointment...

Bulldog Empire

Picked up a copy of the small press title Bulldog Empire. Captain Winston Bulldog's been around for a few years but I've never experienced him before.

Now I'm glad I have.

In fact I feel like I've missed out. Not that I felt lost when I was reading the comic. The backstory was very cleverly woven into the comic so that newbie's like me could pick it up.

And best of all, it feels so British and nostalgic even though it's a new character (well to me at least). Artwise there are no complaints. I love what artist Neill Cameron's done with the split realities of the story from the line art of Bulldog's world to the dark gothic art of, well, I'm assuming it's our Earth.

So fab art, a quirky story and beautiful production values.

Yup, I loved it - give it a go...

No. 6!

I am a number! I am number 6!

Let's get Lucky Day up to number 5...

C

Lucky Day

Wahoo! Lucky Day is currently the seventh most viewed strip on Webcomicsnation.

Go on, let's try and get it to number six. Everyone have a read for me...
I'm living the dream...

Webcomics Nation

Impressed with the new Webcomics Nation service I've ordered an account and uploaded Lucky Day on to it. So now begins the beginning of my web comic empire.

All I have to do is find an artist for my first Jack Slade web comic. Any takers out there?