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Welcome to the world of the Vincent D'Onofrio obsessed - and a bit of real life thrown in.


Saturday, September 19, 2009

Dynasties

It never ceases to amaze me how some families produce people of immense and wide-ranging talents.

I was raised with the story of the heroic failure of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Scott of the Antarctic, beaten to the South Pole by Amundsen, then dying so bravely in the frozen wastes. The film starring John Mills was a classic.

I also used to watch the naturalist Peter (later Sir Peter) Scott on wildlife programmes on TV, with no idea that he was actually the good Captain's son, born in 1909, and only a toddler when his father died.

Sir Peter was a great wildlife artist, too, and he was the leading light behind the formation of the World Wildlife Fund. A great man in a completely different way from his father, whom he can't have known, but whose legend he presumably grew up with.

Captain Scott

Sit Peter Scott


Sir Peter Scott with David Attenborough

Sir David Attenborough is another great naturalist. Though now 73, he still manages to go places and do things younger mortals would consider too taxing or dangerous. He has been a wildlife presenter and documentary maker for 50 years or more, and is regarded as a National Treasure.

Sir David Attenborough and friend


Here he is presenting an amazing bird in the rainforest.



You can also hear his fascinating 10-minute "Life Stories" on BBC Radio4 each week, the latest of which is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mlxpv/David_Attenboroughs_Life_Stories_Birds_Nest_Soup/


I don't know how well-known David is across the world, but his elder brother's reputation is truly international.
Richard (now Lord) Attenborough has been a widely-acclaimed actor for decades, and his role in Jurassic Park as the park's founder means that he has remained a very recognisable figure. He is also an outstanding film director, his most famous work being Gandhi in 1982.
Tragedy hit in 2004 when his daughter and granddaughter were lost in the Asian Tsunami.

Lord Attenborough

The Attenboroughs' father was an eminent academic, his mother one of the founders of the Marraige Guidance Council.

How does it happen that some people, like the Attenboroughs, live up to their families and grow into achievers, while others rebel and amount to nothing?
How is it that some kids, like Peter Scott, who lose a parent very young and under tragic circumstances do things that would have made the dead parent proud, but others use it as an excuse to be a failure?
If we only knew the answers to such questions, we could solve a lot of the world's problems.

Richard and David Attenborough

Gemini

Open to suggestions as to which three to delete to bring it down to 10 pictures ;-P








































Friday, September 18, 2009

UK CI ALert

I just moseyed on over to the Hallmark Channel Website, and there it is in black and white.

Well, orange and white, actually.

Season 8 starts on October 15th.

Cristmas is coming early this year!

Frame


































And now the woman of whom we are all jealous:

Thursday, September 17, 2009

FPS
































Of course, we can't leave this episode without visiting the Goren Groin Show.


Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Sleep? What's that?

Well, Dandy spent the night misjudging gaps and bashing into door jambs even when the door was wide open. Shelley was not amused with having a usurper in "his" room. I was limited to about 2 square inches of bed. Unless one of the cats wanted them, too.

I was very disappointed not to be able to find a good picture of the vet, John, who really is very handsome. I first came across him when he bought the practice, and he came to my mother's house to see to one of her cats. It was a hot day, and with his big boots and rolled-ever hiking socks he was wearing co-ordinating mid-thigh length shorts and lovely, shapely, tanned legs in between.


The reason Dandy and Beano go here, and not my usual vet's, is that when mum's last cat died and mum went into sheltered accommodation, I rather wanted to keep "in touch" with him. I mean, he's a very funny guy and a good vet, too.
A few years ago he was lucky he didn't lose his excellent skills as a surgeon when a garden cane went through his hand. Considering the wonderful job he did on Beano's eye and now on Dandy's nose (not to mention his torn 3rd eyelid and an infected ear in between) that would have been a big loss.
When I was a child, the vet practice was known as Butcher and Wilson, which I always thought was rather unfortunate.

Fico di Capo

Lots of lovely hands-on to make us jealous. I need him to throw me about.
Love that stubble.


Love that back.


Love that stance.


Love that expression.


Love that gr...grey suit!


Love that mouth.


Love that wrist.


Love that profile.


Love that brow.


Love that nose.


Love that hand.


Love those shades.


Love those lashes.


Love that man.

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