The Eyebrows Have It

Has anyone noticed that, on top of everything else, Vincent has perfect eyebrows?

Adventures in Bodybuilding

Did Vincent really build himself up like this for this movie?

I guess if he put on 70lbs for FMJ it must be so.

I'm just glad he didn't keep either physique. I like him slim, I like him big but a little out of shape, but musclebound or obese I can only tolerate because it's Vincent. I wouldn't even look at another man who was either of those things.

An elephant remembers

I saw this elephant at London Zoo reach over with her trunk and repeatedly bolt and unbolt the gate of which you can just see the post on the left.

They no longer keep elephants there since one stomped a keeper's head. They were moved to the expanses of their country arm, Whipsnade Wild Animal Park.

Oh dear

Well, The Subway just arrived, and now I don't know if I can watch it. It choked me up when it first aired when it was new, and I didn't even know who the actor playing the victim was. It just might be too much.

Cats on a hot tin...radiator

For Kissing Vincent.

Beano and Dandy were always in trouble for climbing up the bird cage like a ladder - it's just out of shot on the left - so they found an innovative way to creep closer.

Cold, hard and sexy

If Mr Blue didn't get his message over with this look I'd be amazed. Unfortunately, for me, the message warps into, "I'm the most desirable man on earth. Let me take you." I think I might have died on that train. Of ecstacy?

Polly want a cuppa?

I really fancy a drop of tea. If I can just get the lid off this teapot...
Ah, there. It may be heavier than me but they don't call me Superbird for nothing.

When Beano and Dandy were kittens, they got in the most unlikely places, and often fell asleep there, like on this whatnot.

Wallpaper

Help! I just turned this photo into wallpaper and now I just can't turn off my computer.

Chain me up, Bobby

He's so potent, he even needs condoms on his fingers.

I told you I was ill

I don't think Spike Milligan's wit would have appealed across the Pond, but he was one of the greatest comedians ever to have lived. He was completely anarchic and off-the-wall. He wrote The Goons, a brilliant 1950s BBC radio programme which set the scene for a comedy revolution. Everyone of note pays him homage, from The Prince of Wales to Monty Python. He created characters for Peter Sellers that added the initial boost to that great man's career.

Spike was born in India but grew up in my native Lewisham in London. He retained links within the borough up to the end of his life, including taking part in a tree-planting scheme. He died in 2002.

He always said that he wanted his epitaph to be, "I told you I was ill".

This is his gravestone, in Winchelsea Churchyard in Sussex, England. The church is very old and grand, and the town very exclusive and up itself (it was one of the Cinque Ports, a very ancient set of coastal towns, though changes in the coastline mean it is now miles inland), and there were objections to the wording, so it's written in Gaelic. Trust Spike to have the last laugh.

Spike was a great humanitarian, having been involved in the campaign to save the whales and in Beauty Without Cruelty. He was a manic depressive and was hospitalized several times in his life. He wrote several books, including his own autobiography, starting with "Hitler-My Part In His Downfall", nonsense verse for children and a book about the worst poet ever to have written in the English Language - William McGonagall.

If you want to know more about this comedy legend, go to spikemilligan.co.uk to visit his tribute site.

A Beauty of Bengal

Mewli was my friend Julie's cat, a Bengal snow leopard. I just met him once, and during the visit he decided to help himself to the carrot cake.

Sadly, like his mother, he found his way to a nearby busy road, and was killed while still little more than a kitten. I wish cats would learn road sense.

The Young Orson Welles

Remind anyone of anyone?

Guess Where?

Florida? California? Saltdean? - Saltdean?!?

This is my friend Jilly clearing out the pool in the garden of her Art Deco house just outside Brighton in Sussex (UK).

We've known each other since we were about 7, though we lost touch for years in between. Then along came Friends Reunited.

For Hara

Just a tantalising glimpse

Oh, no!

Bobby's just seen the picture of his latest bird.

Mr Stone and Miss Lewis

Little Rio was really affectionate last night, neglecting her "boy" and sitting on my hand for ages. Then she went back to join him on their perch, and sidled up to him, nudging him and presenting herself to him, trying to turn him on. He was a bit detached at first, maybe paying her back for her neglect. But he couldn't resist her for long, and soon they were having rampant, noisy and very public sex. As he's so big and she's quite small, I immediately thought of the protagonists in Entertaining Mr Stone and their sex games.

Dig a Pony

Apologies to the Fab Four for pinching one of their song titles. I took this picture of a New Forest pony while down in the Forest last summer for the wedding of a cousin's daughter. I was with another cousin who lives near Macca's home in Sussex, so it seemed to be a natural connexion. Or maybe a bit of a stretch...

For my American readers' benefit, the New Forest is nearly a thousand years old, planted after the Norman Conquest (1066) for the benefit of the king, so he had somewhere to hunt. You can be driving along what seems like an ordinary road, and suddenly everything comes to a standstill because a pony (or a cow, or a deer, or some other wildlife) has wandered into the middle of the road. Deer and ponies can wander into gardens, too. It's a beautiful (and very expensive) place to live.

The bride's brother manages the Ferrari and Maserati dealership in a town in the Forest. A Maserati Quattroporte was used as the wedding car, and next day we went for a spin a couple at a time - wow! 0-90 in what felt like half a second!

The Champion

I don't understand why they didn't cast actors more believable as basketball players with Vincent in this movie. They were all so short!

Of course, no-one could measure up to Vincent, in stature, in acting ability or in sex appeal.

I'd love to have seen him playing in the original game that the film was about.

Incognito

Cats can never resist a cardboard box, can they? Jaspa got caught in the act. She looks so guilty! One thing's for sure, she was trying to sample the Harrison's Organic Parrot Food.

Soldier Boy

I love the shot at the end of this episode, filmed from above, with Goren and Eames walking away side by side, and he looks so ENORMOUS next to her. She's only about 1/2 an inch shorter than me (depending which leg I'm standing on...) , so it's easy for me to imagine myself next to him.

I'd rather imagine myself underneath him, though.

Cat or Parrot?

Rio had an identity crisis when she was young. She loved this catnip-filled cat toy "Fishy" and would roll around with it on this (rather grubby) footstool.

Then she found Louis and SEX and she put away childish things. Cats are now only for dive-bombing.

Baby Meerkats

If you look really carefully you can just see tiny meerkats falling asleep all over the place, including halfway into their burrows. They are about the size of mice, so cute - so small a magpie could pick one off (and they try!)

Imagine

I play the scene with this shot in it over and over. Those fingers are just beautiful, and I spend hours imagining what he could do with them.

The painting is in the Courtauld Institute in London, and I can't go and see it without thinking of fun with Bobby.

Lice - not nice

The big topic of conversation in the classroom today has been headlice - while we were eating our lunch!

One girl is alive with them. We're not allowed to send her home, I'm not even sure you can send a letter just to one set of parents any more, or phone them up. The "Nit Nurse" no longer exists (could be regarded as an assault) so lice just multiply.

As soon as nits are mentioned, everyone just starts acratching. I'm still doing it now. Never had them, never want them, but they seem to follow me everywhere.

Girls vs Boys

I just taught a lesson to 11 and 12 year olds on the advantages/disadvantages of being a boy/girl. Not the answers I'd expected. The only girl in the room (with 3 boys), when asked, "What's the best thing about being a girl?" replied, "No wet dreams".

So different from when I was a young girl.

Peek-A-Boo

The first thing Henry did was bite the JVC logo off the stereo. Then he would turn round and say "Ooooh" just to hear the sound effect of the echo. The stereo has since died and the (much chewed) cabinet been replaced. Henry keeps going strong, though.

Kissing Vincent

Apologies to my fellow Vincent fan for using her nickname as a title, but what else could you call this collection? Suggestions, please?

Crazy Critters

In case anyone wonders why there are so many zoo pictures on my blog, I'm a Friend of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and get free entry to the zoo. The otters are amazing to watch. The big stones get moved around a lot, maybe this is how they manipulate their environment in nature. They can be nasty, though, not just cute. Sometimes they seem to pick on someone to bully.

The Sexiest Man Alive

I could look at this picture forever. I have never seen any man look so sultry and sexy AT ALL let alone just in a profile head shot.

Lunch is ready

I love the impression that the tiger is face to face with these people. We were all just inches away through the glass, but the people are actually reflections.

People say bad stuff about London Zoo, and it is pretty cramped, but these tigers seem happy and appear to love strutting their stuff for the public.

The Extra Leg

Dandy often lies like this with a leg under his chin, looking like he has an extra paw. He's just been to the vet's today for the second week running, and has to go back again next week. This is because I noticed a lump in his neck. He had penicillin for a week, which appeared not to work, but the vet says it's a different gland that's up this week, so no suspected cancer and no biopsies, just another week on the antibiotics.

Meanwhile, he spent the day locked in the spare room. Add to that the fact that he hates going in the carrier. Once I picked the basket up and found he'd squeezed his huge bulk out of a one-and-a-half-inch gap, so he has a special escape-proof box. Even though he hasn't had a good day thanks to me, he is curled up beside me instead of catching up on the time he's lost in the garden.

Expressive

I love it when as Bobby Vincent folds his arms, and this expression on his face is another favourite. It shows just what he is feeling, as he expects the person he's speaking to to drop himself in it.

Camouflage

Twiglet would be trying to hide among the fur fabric throws and cushions if only she could be bothered.

That's Better

A Vincent fix is just what the doctor ordered.

Bad Day

I'm feeling a bit prickly today. Firstly the lovely boy in our autistic unit was hitting and biting, then at lunch one of the girls kicked someone in the kidneys. After lunch I shut my finger in a heavy door. Finally the same girl started to strip off, then lashed out, kicking all of us in the legs, and me in the stomach. Lots of padding, luckily.

For this day they pay me £130, and the assistants who bear the brunt every day get less than half.

I need some Vincent to cheer me up.

An Acting Sensation

I can't get over how cleverly Vincent made himself appear blind in this film. What he does with his eyes must have been painful.

I love the scene where he throws the furniture out of his apartment. You can really believe that Mr Big is actually tossing a sofa off the balcony.

One boy shows his stuff

Dandy is a gentle giant. He loves to display his tum and will let you rub it for as long as you want. He doesn't seem to have the grab/bite/kick/scratch reflex that cats are supposed to have.

Guy - Why?

Because I wanted to. And after all, why not?

Shelley and Friends

Can you see which one is Shelley?

He is a beautiful, blue-eyed, blue-point Birman with the personality of an angel with just the right amount of demon. Unlike Jaspa, he doesn't resent people thinking he is the opposite sex because of his name. He just assumes everyone loves him. So they do.

He was named after the poet. I also had his half-brother Byron, who died after breaking his pelvis in a freak accident when he was only 5. Shelley is 15, and has been kept going for several years after his kidneys started to fail, by a drug called Fortekor, invented for dogs' hearts and miraculous for cats' kidneys.

My Turn

I've never been a great fan of snogging, whether in films/programmes or real-life public places. So how is it that even an all-boy snog like this can get me going if it has a Vincent in it?

Another Hunk

I defy even Vincent to beat these shoulders.

Hotel Paradise Remake

This is the scene before the female lead releases herself and chains up Vincent.

Lead roles are taken by Louis the orange winged amazon and Rio the golden-headed conure. The sex scene has been cut. (Rio likes her men well-hung).

And for the kids

Life continued to be good for the serval kitten. It chased flies and dead mice (they are not allowed to feed it live ones) and generally swept its way into the hearts of the observers, along with its brother/sister. Mum kept trying to control her naughty young, but they listened to her as much as you listen to your parents.

For all those mums out there

I bet you wish you could use this method to bring your recalcitrant offspring into line.

For the record, the serval kitten was out of the den again before its mother had even turned around.

How embarrassing...

Jaspa just can't bear my posting this photo of her. She's so ashamed that I mistook her for a boy and gave her a male name. Even though I've feminized the name, she's still embarrassed that she was not feminine enough as a tiny kitten to show that she deserved to be called Jade. It's the colour her eyes now are, but back then they were grey like her. Even the vet didn't notice the mistake till I took her fo be neutered!

Vincent Looking Hot

An oldie (not much actually) but a goodie. I wonder if the photographer asked him to give a sexy look or if he just decided to melt us all because he could? Weird-looking shirt, though. He may look hot ,but it looks too warm. I want to take it off for him.