Collective

Just look at that expression. Little boy at play, needs cuddle. Or spanking...

Chained Exclusive! Rerun

I've decided to republish this little gem from last year's London Frightfest because Jennifer Lynch has been getting some nasty trolls tweeting and blogging against her, and I thought it might be nice to show her that she is appreciated. I know some of you were too wimpish to watch the film, even to see our favourite actor, because Bobby Goren this character is not. But I know we are all glad to know he is getting the chance to stretch his creative wings, which Jen certainly gave him here.

Review, and interview with Jennifer Lynch.

This was a harrowing film during the showing of which the audience sat for the most part in stunned silence.

Vincent D'Onofrio acts brilliantly, as we would expect, and needs make no effort to be believable as a brute capable of dragging and carrying a full-grown woman screaming and struggling to her doom.

There are some flashbacks to the childhood experiences that made Vincent's character, Bob, what he is. As he tries to persuade/coerce Rabbit to emulate his actions and lifestyle, there are some interesting psychological observations in the portrayals under Lynch's direction.

There is a twist at the end that Lynch had to reduce because of time comstraints. Lynch is hoping to release a Director's Cut to restore the lost scenes.

On the absolute unmissable plus side, there are shots of Vincent's torso, front and back and in the shower, his lovely calves, and those size 13s. Plus a side view of one bum cheek with leg on top of a victim as he dozes. Trust me, it's worth all the nastiness.

As this recording of part of the interview starts, Lynch has been discussing the doctoring of the one murder scene that is visual rather than audible as required by the censors. It had to be painted out as being "too realistic" which, she said, was rather the point.

Cold Comfort

I just love the shoulders in the shirt.

Chinoiserie

It's been a while since I posted a tongue shot.

Icing on the ... temple

How can this building have sprung up near my town centre without my noticing?



In case you hadn't realised, it's a Hindu temple. And maybe just a little bit over the top?

Can you see the wood for the trees?

Today I took a stroll through the park to get to an appointment.



Hidden behind the trees is Lewisham Hospital, that wonderful organisation that the Health Secretary wants to gut, sending the patients in the worst condition through heavy traffic delays to an inferior hospital.

Nice setting. Forget the busy road on the other side of the site. That gives good access for those who rely on coming in by public transport. (The other hospital has one slow bus that goes through the back streets every half hour or so.)

I was seeing the surgeon who will perform my breast reduction. My funding, after much debate and some aggro from my GP, has been agreed.

So there we were trying to fix a date. Would you believe it, the diary option on the computer wouldn't let the doctor or his secretary in. The result is I still can't plan my summer around the operation.

I do know that I won't be able to shower for 10 days, though, so I hope it cools down before I go under the knife!

Cherry Red

Perfect place to plant a kiss.

But Not Forgotten

Iconic pose.

Brother's Keeper

The good brother.

Bright Boy

I can't begin to say all the things that are right with this photo.

Blink

Do they come any more handsome than this?

77 Years On

In 1936 the great Fred Perry won the Wimbledon men's tennis championship for the third time. In between there have been British women's champions. There have been male hopes - Bobby Wilson, Roger Taylor, Mark Cox, John and David Lloyd, Andrew Castle, Tim Henman. But not until today Has a Brit again won the men's. Congratulations Andy Murray. Andy's early life included being a pupil at Dunblane School when a gunman shot dead a class of 5 and 6 year olds. I can't imagine living any kind of a life after an experience like that.

Blindest Spot

Sweetest spot...

Anniversaries Happy and Sad

Today being 7/7, it's the 8th anniversary of the London bombings. Terrible day to have lived in, far worse to have died in. As for the injured who were severely burnt, lost limbs, and suffered other such horrendous wounds, my heartgpesout to you. Meanwhile, Happy Birthday to Ringo, who announced his anniversary on Twitter. I sympathise that he is so often forgotten, and has to make his own birthday wishes, and it wasn't his fault that these atrocities happened on his birthday, but a bit of perspective Ringo, please.

Happy Birthday NHS

Today is the 65th birthday of our beloved National Health Service. Sadly, thanks to this government, it will struggle to make any further birthdays as anything other than a private business for the profit of the government's rich friends.

Blinder Spot

That neck was designed for open-necked shirts.

Blind Spot

I just want to nibble on that bottom lip.

The Tough, the Cute and the Totally Squee

Today at the zoo I got a pretty good picture of the new male gorilla Kumbuka. I took several, but only one wasn't blurred by his movements.



Then there was the unusual sight of the tamandua out in daylight, feeding with the sloths. Apparently she's discovered she likes their food.



Finally, there is a new Malayan tapir calf. He is not yet allowed out while the public are on the premises, but ZSL has released a video of his first day out with mum. I hope this link works for everyone - I am currently unable to download videos and repost them for your enjoyment (thanks to RealPlayer, who took my money and ran).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dnVRI6YRJE&feature=youtu.be

If it doesn't work, just go to the ZSL London Zoo website and you're certain to find it. It's worth the effort.

For those in the UK, the programme The Zoo starts next Wednesday 10th July at 8pm on ITV1. They will be showing the introduction of Jae Jae and Melati.

Betrayed

Neatest scruff I've ever seen.

Happy Birthday Vincent D'Onofrio

A whopping 54 today! But still six years behind me.

Best Defence

Don't you just love those nonsensical anomalies between English and American? Defense/ License verbs in English, nouns in American, Defence/Licence the opposite.

We all agree about Bobby, though.

Even More Bedfellows

Just for good measure.

More Bedfellows

As if one picture of Bobby at his finest was going to be enough.

Farewell, My Mitzi

On Saturday night I noticed my little Mitzi had a lump on the side of her face. It seemed quite hard, which made me very concerned. But I hoped for the best - a bad tooth, an abscess caused by a bite. I took her to the vet's today, and he kept her in for exploratory surgery.

Then came the call. Cancer was eating away at her jaw. She'd hidden her pain and discomfort for so long, there was really nothing he could do. I gave the go-ahead for him to euthanize her without waking her from the anaesthetic. I didn't get to say goodbye.

I went along to kiss her poor dead body farewell, then leave her to be taken for cremation. She was barely 15.

I adopted Mitzi when she was about a year old, along with one of her kittens. She had been rescued from a back garden, abandoned by owners who hadn't bothered to get her spayed, then left her to care for her babies.

Mitzi remained tiny, having used all her energy raising her babies. Her daughter Twiglet is gigantic.

It took a long time for her to settle in. Her first venture outside was nearly permanent. She just didn't come back. I leafleted the area, and locals located her and helped me put out a trap. It was six months before she was allowed out again.

Gradually she became strokeable, on her own terms. She enjoyed her garden and her home, and would climb on to my shoulder for a fuss. But she remained nervous and wary.

She was especially fond of the chicken coop, back when I had hens. She would sunbathe on top, or sneak inside for a nap. Once she even got herself locked inside when the hens went to bed, which gave all of us a shock.



I know she was happy. I just wish it had been for longer.

Bedfellows

The most handsome Bobby ever looked. Perfect hair, perfect neck...perfect!

Riddle

What did the tiger...



...say to the okapi...



...about the tufted ducks?



Nothing, silly. They're in completely different parts of the zoo! But the ducklings managed to find a piece of sacking the gorillas had thrown into the pond and use it as a temporary island to rest on.

JaeJae was in full display-my-bits mode.



Melati was up a fake tree again.



The new okapi baby wouldn't leave its mum's side.



But the tufted ducklings did their habitual disappearing act under the water, while mum watched without concern. Tufties dive for so long, and travel such distances underwater, that you keep thinking they must have drowned!



Meanwhile a famous face was seen around the zoo. I was too proud to take a photo of that face, just snapping a rear view:



For those not good at identifying people from the back (and probably most of my non-British readers) here's a googled photo:

Yes, folks, it was Charles Dance.

Beast

Bobby the know-all in the pub quiz. Love it!

Baggage

For some reason I was drawn to this picture...

Badge

Let m kiss those lips.

The neighbours may object but...

...by feeding the foxes they see as vermin, this is the kind of thing I see in my garden.

It's a female fox with two of her cubs, and I think they were suckling, though they are a bit big for that!

Art

This is just about to start as I was writing this post.

Anti-Thesis

Lovely hand...

Amends

This was a great start to Season 7, though a tough one.

Whoops!

As a faithful supporter of the World Wildlife Fund, I was privileged a couple of weeks ago to receive an invitation to their London conference yesterday at ZSL (ie. London Zoo). I sent my acceptance, but heard no more, and forgot all about it till I checked my diary on Friday night.

Whoops indeed. If I'd realised a day sooner, I wouldn't have gone to the zoo on Friday, but would have done my weekend shop then, to leave me free for Saturday.

Well, I rushed the shopping, and managed (despite engineering works on the train lines delaying me) to get to the conference less that 40 minutes late.

It was about east Africa, both land and sea conservation projects. There was also a talk from Andy Hodge, a marine biologist who also happens to be a double Olympic gold medallist in rowing.

It was a joy to be among so many like-minded people. I even managed to ask a well-received and important question about the involvement of native women in their projects (every picture they showed was of men and boys). The reply reassured me that they are fully aware of the different roles of men and women in the various communities they deal with and make sure they approach the right people in the right way.

Part of the deal was free entry into the zoo, which of course I don't need, but it allowed me to nip in by the back door and capture a few more pictures of Melati posing on top of the giant climbing frame.

Showing off her bright orange back and stunning markings:




Displaying her fluffy chin:




Treating us to her beautiful profile:



All these poses struck within a couple of minutes.

Privileged indeed. Me, not her!

Alpha Dog

More curls!

Two Zoos

This week I've been to two different zoos - making hay while the sun (for a change) shone.

On Tuesday it was Howlett's in Kent, where they have the giant Siberian tiger Malchek. He's an old boy of 17 now, and he's really looking it. He knows where and when his grub's coming, though.



There's also a young girl cub sent over from the sister park to be hand raised. She and her brother were rejected, and it was only after they'd been rescued by staff that it became clear mother was right. He was epileptic, and when he failed to respond to treatment he had to be euthanized. SHe had brittle bones, and surgery has so far been only partially successful. Sadly they will be unable to include her in the gene pool.



Then there were the black lemurs. Only the male is actually black, but the tiny head of the baby one female was carrying was pretty dark. Difficult to get a clear picture though.






Today I've been to London Zoo again, and managed a few shots of JaeJae on the prowl. You can hear how excited he makes the crowd. If only those who destroy these creatures, and those who believe in the "medicine" nonsense, would appreciate them alive instead of colluding in their murder.

All In

No need to ask how we feel about this episode.

Only one good thing in it.

Darling in the dark.

Hellifax

One of the banks that had to rely on government intervention to stop it going under was the Halifax. I have banked with them for some time, and have not found them to be particularly clever. For example, when they sent me a letter containing my details and those of a complete stranger, saying one account was going to pay the credit card bill of the other in monthly payments, I phoned them up straight away so that it could be put right. All I asked was a couple of pounds put into my account to pay for the phone call. Their later letter refused, saying that, as they had already refunded me £12 over another of their mistakes, they didn't owe me anything! Pay for one mistake, get the other one free. After the intervention of the regulator, they paid me £100!

Well this time, I won't be laughing. Today I came home to a letter, dated 31st May, saying that on 3rd June and every month thereafter, they would be paying £995 from my account into the account of a total stranger. It obviously did not occur to them to check in advance the legitimacy of this uncharacteristically large sum, so by the time I heard about it my account was nearly £1000 light. That's close to four times the amount of my largest standing order, for the remainder of my mortgage. Yet it has been nodded through as though I did transactions like that every day, or indeed every month "until further notice".

Well I did notice, and they say that the money will be back in my account by close of business tomorrow. But if they find that it isn't a mistake by the bank or a fraudulent transaction, they will take it back again.

What the FUCK do these people think they are doing with MY money?

Albatross

The perfection of the Season 6 hair...

Acts of Contrition

I've gone back to A-Z mode, though my list doesn't include later series, so be prepared for some episodes to be missing for now.

I know this picture is ever popular.

Melati, Judge Judy and stuff I don't get.

JaeJae was too busy at the zoo on Friday trying to imagine how he could magic a giant tortoise into his mouth. Melati spent most of the day hiding, but towards the she was checking out the world in public view.






I am a recent follower of Judge Judy, mostly because I cannot believe - not just the things people sue one another over - but the differences in law and responsibility between our two nations, especially where things to do with cars are concerned.

There don't seem to be any rules about the condition a car ought to be in to be legally allowed on the road. People are suing over vehicles that would have been off the road decades ago. They are disputing insurance liability. And here I get really confused.

In a case broadcast today the statement was made that "the insurance follows the car". So you can lend your car to anyone (presumably with a licence) and your insurance covers the car as driven by them. They can write it off and not owe you a penny.

Well, folks, see if you prefer the UK version.

It's the driver who is insured. They can be insured for more than one car, and they can insure a car for more than one driver. This allows new young drivers to be insured on their parents' policies instead of paying more than the price of a car just to drive one. The pricier and faster the car, the more the insurance costs.

I can buy insurance that allows only me to drive just my car; I can allow another (named) person, or anyone I choose later, to drive my car. I can apply my insurance to any car I am qualified to drive. I can insure my car third party only, third party fire and theft, or fully comprehensive. The cost on these various options will vary. And I can phone my insurance broker at any time to vary my cover.

But I cannot decide on the spur of the moment to let someone else drive my car unless that is the kind of insurance I have taken out. I would expect them to be insured to drive it, and wouldn't let them anywhere near it if they couldn't prove that to me.

If the bright sparks on Judge Judy are anything to go by, a lot of folks in the US have NO idea what their insurance is and what it can and can't do.

Add to that our MOT test (stand for Ministry of Transport) which every car legally on the road must pass annually once it reaches the grand old age of 3 years. No bangers on our roads! I hope...

I'm glad I'm over here.