That's Showbiz

Those of us who have reached a certain age will remember this lovely lady, a 1950s female crooner.
Others still will recognise her looking more like this, from her appearances on ER as a woman with dementia.

They may even know that she was married to this man (apparently, twice).

They are less likely to know that this man is their son.

He is Miguel Ferrer, actor, whom I was surprised to see turn up in NCIS Los Angeles this week. Looks a lot like his father, doesn't he? His father Jose Ferrer. Not good looking like his mother, Rosemary Clooney. Nor his uncle, Nick Clooney.

And certainly not like Nick's son, Rosemary's nephew, Miguel's cousin:

Yes, in case you hadn't put it together before, he is George Clooney's cousin.

George is pictured here with his father after his arrest for daring to be on the steps of the Sudanese embassy trying to prevent another humanitarian crisis in Sudan. And just a couple of days after dining with Obama and Cameron, and having Obama's ear in a private meeting about the Sudan situation.

How dare he defy the police like that? What's a few more deaths in Africa as long as they get to throw their weight around?

He may not be as sexy as our Vincent, but Clooney is an all-round good bloke.

Untethered - Day 2

Bobby's always got his brother's number, no matter how Frank tries to twist things. No wonder he gets angry with him.

Spare £9 million anyone?

St Cuthbert was the Bishop of Lindisfarne (Holy Island) in the 7th century, where he was buried after his death. Eleven years after his death his casket was opened to reveal his remains intact. This led to the movement to canonise him.

When the Danes invaded Lindisfarne in the 9th century, the monks took Cuthbert's remains across to the mainland, where they wandered for some years. Ultimately, in the 11th century, a new cathedral was built to house his shrine.

Sr Cuthbert's Cathedral, Durham

When his remains were transferred into his new shrine, this copy of St John's Gospel was found with his body:

The St Cuthbert Gospel ended up in the hands of the Jesuits after passing around various private owners following the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII in the 16th century. Thought to be the oldest European book still in existence, it has been on long loan to the British Library for many years, and has now been offered to them for a coll £9 million. It will then be displayed half of every year at the Library, half at the Cathedral.

Good to know religious groups are so generous. It would be so inappropriate for them to make money out of something holy...

Untethered - Day 1

Wonder what Bobby did with that brick between buying it off the homeless guy and using it to smash the car showroom window? Why would he even keep it when he had no idea he'd have a use for it?

iPad update

The video on my iPad post has been removed from YouTube, and I've replaced it there, and am posting it here as well for those who have not had the pleasure.

Sad Centenary

It's a hundred years ago today since Captain Lawrence Oates uttered the famous words, "I'm going outside and may be some time." He then went out into a blizzard from the tent on the Scott team's return from the Antarctic, thinking that sacrificing his own life might save the rest of the team. He had severe frostbite and knew he was slowing them down.

Sadly, as history relates, no one survived the expedition. But Captain Oates's courage, recorded by Scott in his journal which was later found with the rest of the team's bodies, will be remembered for as long as their are people to remember it. Oates's body was never found.

Self-Made - Day 12

It's been said before...Charley still has some anger issues with his father!

New Use for iPad + World's Worst Promotion

In case you haven't seen this, enjoy a humorous alternative to using modern technology:



There's also the funniest ever instore promotion doing the rounds, giving one possible reason why Tesco, Britain's most profitable supermarket, isn't doing as well as it was:

Self-Made - Day 11

That lucky book gets to rest in those hands on that lap.

Self-Made - Day 10

Just another excuse for a perfect picture.

Self-Made - Day 9

Bobby enjoys taunting as much as we enjoy watching him taunt.

Self-Made - Day 8

Lots of strong-arm stuff in this episode. Just as well Bobby has really strong arms.

Self-Made - Day 7

That expression speaks to me. You too? What does it say?

Self-Made - Day 6

Bobby looks like a naughty boy who's just been told off. I can think of some good ways to "discipline" him.

Who got the insurance money?

I've often wondered what happened to the insurance policy Declan took out on Frank with William Brady as the beneficiary.

Obviously, if Bobby had killed his brother, the policy would have been null and void. But he didn't.

There is no William Brady to inherit - but as Frank's only relative (assuming Donny wasn't eligible) surely Bobby should have inherited the money? But would he have wanted to touch what he must have seen as blood money, even though his financial situation was so dire?



Does anyone know the answer to the actuarial problem? Should we get his penpal on to it?

Self-Made - Day 5

I can think of better things he could use that mouth for. And those hands...

Self-Made - Day 4

Unfair! That should be me!

Zoo Baby

The lion cubs were around today, sleepy at first, then very naughty, driving their mother to near infanticide! Unfortunately they were doing this in a part of their enclosure behind a small mesh that made filming and photographing them pointless.

But the meerkats have had another addition to their group, just one baby on its own, just over a month old. Sadly, soon to be a meerkat without the end of its tail, if my eyes don't deceive me.

There were some Keeper-for-a-Day people throwing them some food, and the littl'un chased around trying to get mealworms ahead of the adults. It got a few, too.

Self-Made - Day 3

I love his big swagger. Among other things...

Blubbing for Britain

I cry very easily. I cry at sad stuff, at heart-warming stuff, at happy stuff. I choke up. I can hardly speak.

Take today. I found a wallet in the supermarket car park as I was on my way inside to do my "big shop". I waited at the Customer Service desk for an assistant to be free. She looked inside and found a name. It took her a while to register that it was the name of an employee (there are hundreds of them, it's a huge store) but they couldn't find him. I went off to do some shopping, but a vew minutes later they called my name over the tannoy.

They'd located him, and there was this young disabled man who walks with the aid of crutches. He hadn't even known his wallet was missing. He thanked me, but I was the one who was grateful. Grateful he hadn't been distresseed, glad he hadn't been deprived of his valuables. I could hardly speak 'cos I would have given my emotional state away.

I went for years without crying at all. I wonder why I didn't then, and I do now.

Self-Made - Day 2

A smell Bobby can recognise.

20 Years ago today - my first pet bereavement

When I was a child, we had pets that died. But Biggles was the first of my own pets to die.

He was not my first cat. That was Puddy, who was several years older than Biggles, but outlived him by 3 months.
Biggles was the kitten of a pregnant stray I took in for my mother. She was adopted by a neighbour, who called her Glenda, and had four sweeties under his bed. My then husband and I adopted Biggles, named after a fictional flying ace. He was born on 11th August 1976.

He was a little so-and-so from the start, constantly tormenting Puddy, who never became accustomed to him. He was also incredibly affectionate.

He developed kidney disease in his early teens, and was successfully treated with steroids. But these were not as effective as present-day treatments, and 18 months on, at the age of only 14-and-a-half, I had to have him put to sleep.

Biggles was wonderful, and losing him broke my heart. Shortly after losing him, and before Puddy died, I took on Shelley (who died in 2010 aged 19 years 5 months) and his brother Byron (who dies aged 5 after an unknown accident). Since Puddy's death I have always had at least 2 cats, and aside from the original 4, I still have them all, two aged 18, two nearly 16, one almost 15 and a nearly-14-year-old.

They really are like a family to me.

Self-Made - Day 1

Bobby's on to something. Pity's it's not me...

Depths - Day 12

The whole series of pictures this comes from is irresistible, but this one of his neck just spoke to me.

Depths - Day 11

Behind you!

Perfection

While fiddling around on my old laptop yesterday I found this equally old video I made. Top man, top pictures, top music.

Depths - Day 10

Looking handsome and mysterious in the semi-shade.

A Smaller Bigger Picture

I've gone on at length recently about the Hockney exhibition. I've done my best to explain my fascination and enjoyment, but nothing could equal experiencing it for yourselves.

The closest I could get to this was pulling a clip from the latest TV programme. After copying it from my satellite TV box on to my DVD recorder's hard drive, then copying it on to DVD, the next route was to rip it from the DVD on to my computer.

Sadly, I never got round to putting my DVD ripping software on to this computer, so I decided it would be quicker to use an older laptop. WRONG!

It's so long since I used it, everything needed updating, and all the updates took forever. Meanwhile, the film, which was in widescreen at almost every stage, played on the computer, and ripped, as standard screen, which doesn't give the visuals their due.

Well, here is the best I could manage. It shows how intelligently Hockney talks about art - his own and art in general. He is articulate and eloquent, and what he says is truly eye-opening. I'm a complete convert.

Depths - Day 9

Talk to the hand.

Thanks, Bobby, but I'd rather suck the fingers...

Wednesday Ratings

This came up on a Google alert. I thought I'd share it with you.

Channel 4's 10 O'Clock Live was watched by a total of 1.1 million viewers, a 6% share, between 10pm and 10.55pm. (This is a topical comedy show with some well-loved comedians.)

It had the better of BBC2 sitcom Roger and Val Have Just Got In, which had 700,000 viewers (3.5%) between 10pm and 10.30pm, including 38,000 viewers on BBC HD. (A comedy show starring Alfred Molina. Looks like another miss, Alfie.)

And the winner in this time slot is:
Channel 5's Law and Order: Criminal Intent, had 1.2 million viewers (6.7%) between 10pm and 10.55pm. (Some US cop show or other...)

Depths - Day 8

Now this picture I immediately recognise the attractions of...

Bigger, Better, Louder

As my student Alex has gone to spend a few days in respite care (and strangely didn't want me to take his school work there...) I took some of his paperwork into the hospital school today to file it.

A couple of years ago I did a post about the hospital school and the children's hospital where it's housed (sort of). It has a huge glass atrium where the school was inserted with no walls, no ceiling, glaring sunlight, heat in summer, cold in winter and voices echoing all round you and leaving you with a headache. The architects and engineers did such a good job of this abomination that six years after the building opened they are installing internal scaffolding so that they can replace the glass, which it seems is not safe. So now the heat is even worse because the school area is boxed in, and the noise is unbearable. Imagine being in a box with someone banging scaffolding together around you. Once I had finished, I intended to try and get some science DVDs for Alex's schooling. I was unsuccessful. But my long trek (seemed like about 3 million miles, but it was probably only a round trip of 5 or 6) took me close to the Royal Academy of Arts, so I decided to see if I could get in to see the Hockney exhibition.

Wow! It was stunning. Even with my legs dropping off, I spent an hour-and-a-half taking it all in. It was much better than the Leonardo exhibition, because real thought had been put into how to group and display the pictures. I suppose it helps that the artist is still alive to supervise.

The landscapes date back over his career back to the 1950s, with a substantial number done recently specifically for the exhibition. There are oils, b/w sketches, watercolours and TA-DA! pictures done on the iPad. There are slideshows of them on several machines, and there are huge, multi-page printouts. I wish I had an App for that...

Of course, the crowning glory of the exhibition was the filmshow. Hockney had supervised the editing together of his nine-camera films so that 18 frames were showing at once, with the same scene filmed at different times on either side. There were audible gasps as one pair of films moved into the next.

Most people were awed into silence as they watched. It was a really peaceful and calming experience.

Except for the man next to me with his audioguide on (why?) and loud enough for me to have to suffer it too.

And the woman who took a phone call. The ringtone was not enough. Her side of the conversation was not enough. She had to make sure I could hear the other half too.

And the man who felt obliged to explain every set to his wife. Obviously she was stupid and he was so brilliant he had to give her - and the rest of us ignoramuses - the benefit of his genius.

And the women who held a loud conversation, most of it nothing to do with what was on show, and who weren't even looking at the screen. My contribution was to ask them equally loudly to take their conversation outside.

What is wrong with people? Why can't they relax and enjoy having something so wonderful just wash over them?

Depths - Day 7

Doesn't he just glow?

Depths - Day 6

Truly stubblicious.

Depths - Day 5

Can anyone explain to me why this shot makes me feel all peculiar?

Depths - Day 4

Pitying the poor sucker of an ex-husband.

Do You Think You Are A Bigger Picture?

On Friday my friend and I went to the Who Do You Think You Are family history fair. This involves a train ride into central London, followed by the underground west to one of London's of exhibition centres, Olympia. This is actually the hall next to the one we were in, but I think it's a nicer-looking building:

We decided to get the bus back to the train station to see if there was anything interesting along the way. We got off at Piccadilly, near a church that has an arty-crafty market in its grounds. (Consecrated 1684, but not one of Christopher Wren's finest.)

Further along Piccadilly is the Royal Academy, where the latest must-see exhibition is housed. Just as we got close to the gates, I did a double-take as I thought the artist himself was walking past us.

Fortunately, reason prevailed, and I realised that (a) it was a bit too young to be David Hockney and (b) he didn't have on his signature outdoor wear of a flat cap. Dead ringer, though, and I suspect not accidentally, especially as I saw another, not quite as good, a bit later on.

The exhibition in question is called A Bigger Picture. For a year, Hockney and his assistants travelled around the Yorkshire countryside in a van with nine cameras on top in a 3 x 3 pattern, filming the same views over and over again at different times of day, and in different seasons and weather conditions. He then composed huge nine-part pictures, which adorn the walls of the gallery, and his films, moving seemlessly along, are projected.


I've never really been a Hockney fan, and I loathe his fanatical approach to smoking, but I have to admit that the TV programme I saw about this exhibition really caught my imagination, and if I don't manage to get myself along to see it I will be very disappointed.

Depths - Day 3

Playing dumb at the numismatist's.

Depths - Day 2

I don't think any one of us will ever forget this unexpected gift from the coastal breeze.

Depths - Day 1

Bobby's such a big boy...

I want a job in broadcasting

Why? Because little things niggle at me constantly.

I just heard someone emphatically say "a fine tooth-comb". Never managed to buy one of those. Are they anything like "a fine-tooth comb?" And is there such a thing as a fine comb without teeth?

Almost immediately an announcer used the word "vilence". I'd love to know what that means. Maybe it has something to do with being vile. I do know it makes me feel...violent.

Then, when the newscasters talk about The Golf, I imagine grown men hitting a small ball round a green. If they mean The Gulf, why on earth don't they say so?

I know I could do better. Why won't they let me?

Smile - Day 12

Bet this one is a surprise - not!

Motorway Entertainment

I believe that families with children sometimes play a "spot the lorry" game while driving on the motorway. Though I've never been unfortunate enough to travel long distances in a car with kids, I must admit to noticing when I haven't seen any trucks of a particular company during a journey. Top of the list are the Eddie Stobart vehicles. We are such a sad people that there is even a TV programme about this company. It should be called AnoraksRUs. (I've never watched it, by the way.) It was national news when the previous boss, Eddie Stobart Jr, died not long ago.
The competition was usually between the Stobart lorry-spotters, and those watching out for the Norbert Dentressangle signs. Hell of a name. I always assumed it was a continental company, but apparently it was founded in the UK.

In "researching" this post, I was reminded that it's been a while since I saw one of these trucks:

It seems that they were taken over by Norbert Dentressangle a few years ago. Spoilsports.

Any such saddo games where you hail from?

Smile - Day 11

You don't need the tape, Bobby I'm stuck on you.

I must have known!

I just read Diane's post about her washing machine breaking down, and subsequent visit to the launderette/laundromat, and was surprised to realise that today I'd been thinking about the relative clothes washing practices of the UK and the US.

Of course, in HLOTS, a character played by Kathryn Erbe brained the guy who gave her Aids while in the laundromat. But those businesses rarely feature in US shows.

In Endgame one of Brady's victims was murdered in the basement of her apartment block, where the washing machines for every apartment block seem to reside.

Chinese laundries often feature in TV programmes and films.

In the UK there are launderettes, but they are shrinking in number because almost everyone, even those in flats, has a front-loading washing machine plumbed in to the kitchen. The most-frequented launderette is in the fictional Albert Square in the popular soap Eastenders. I haven't set foot in one in nearly 40 years. Last time my washing machine broke down (about 3 minutes after the extended guarantee ran out) I just phoned an electrical supplier and had a new one delivered.

I don't even know if large laundries exist in the UK. Hospitals have their own. I imagine hotels do, too.

On a green note, driers are one of the most intensively carbon-producing items you can use. It's the radiators or the washing line for me. I was always amazed to find that, while the neighbour on one side of me used her drier even on boiling hot summer days, the neighbour on the other side puts her washing out on the line even when there's a frost.From the sublime to the ridiculous! (But which is which?)

Smile - Day 10

Sun and shoulders, a winning combination.

Smile - Day 9

Irresistible neck to nuzzle.