Sunday, January 10, 2016

indulged with the generosity of a viscount

hey there


yes, look you see. i know and you know, and i know that you know that i know, that most would skip this blog on January 10, for usually it would be an instance for me to bang on once more about it being the anniversary of when i went to see them lot off of Frankie Goes To Hollywood live and, in a very real sense, in concert. 29 years ago today this time around, but let's look at something else instead.

Christmas, depending on how you look at it, has either passed or is some eleven months away. in respect of the Christmas passed, i have every intention of doing some pictures of the magnificent gifts i got entire and sharing them here. that said, i had the same intention in regards of the gifts of Christmas 2014 and didn't get around to it.

the issue has been forced now, however, as Sharpie, the mostly self-styled Viscount of Stockton, has been most insistent that i share thoughts about and imagery of his immense generosity.



that is actually two gifts you can see there to clarify - a 'Death Star' coaster is sat upon the periodical relating to Masters Of The Universe. i would not want you to think you were seeing, and as a consequence had previously missed, some bizarre cross-universe fiction world that saw Masters Of The Universe skilfully blended with all that Space Trek business.

it was  a most unexpected and indeed generous thing that happened when Sharpie, the self-anointed Viscount of Stockton, sent me gifts in celebration of Christmas. i did momentarily feel bad about the fact that i didn't get him anything, but then fortunately i got distracted by the shiny paper he wrapped the gifts in and i soon forgot all about that guilt.

a closer look at the gifts, and some comment? certainly. with it being the most relevant from the news and that, let's first have a gander at the 'Death Star' styled coaster off of Space Battles.



at first, i grant you as you tsk, this gift might not seem all that impressive. it's a rudimentary coaster you might think, of the cheap nature which charities often post out in the hope that you might give them money in return. now that i think, perhaps that is what Sharpie is after. anyway, no.

this coaster is in fact one of them hologramatic ones, or however you say it. one of them immersive, three dimensional things. i unfortunately cannot capture it on camera, but if you angle it in a certain way, it creates a comprehensive three dee image of a laser firing off out of the gun bit; presumably with the intention being of you aiming it at a lesser planet, what with the 'Death Star' doing all things planetary death.

it might look like Sharpie spent, at best, two quid on this, but in reality i would not be at all surprised if the incredible technology housed within this set him back about a thousand pounds.

one of the biggest controversies in this world always happens when someone mixes up the word dairy with diary, and vice versa. i get around that by simply constructing a sentence that uses both when i need to use one, making it look like i got it right.



the above picture? nothing, really. it's just that, diary wise, i always like to capture the image of a dairy product what has the date of the eighteenth day of the second month printed on it.

on to the other gift then, which relates less to Space Wars and very much more towards Masters Of The Universe. i think my favourite bit about Masters Of The Universe is the myth or urban legend, which lives on to this day, about how it was only ever created when it became clear that Conan The Barbarian wasn't exactly a kids film, and so they had to do something quick with all the toys they had made for it.

at a glance, the Masters Of The Universe book Sharpie, in his capacity as Viscount of Stockton, picked up for maybe 10p or 20p at a charity shop he was invited to come and do an official, if not ceremonial, opening of. "cutting the ribbon" and that sort of sh!t, you know. it's quite possible, however, that this partially used book is much more than that, and could well be the holy grail of Dolph Lundgren memorabilia that hasn't so much evaded people as it hasn't been looked for. here, have a close look.



yes, you are seeing right. some of the pages of this book have indeed been partially completed by an owner prior to it being in my ownership. but who was the owner? whilst you might well jump to the conclusion that the text above was written by a child that soon got bored of the book, what if this Masters Of The Universe activity book was in fact the shooting script used by Dolph Lundgren himself during the making of the celebrated cinematic adaptation?

as i have discussed at length recently, Dolph Lundgren is celebrated as being the greatest of tallest actors out of Sweden to have made their debut in movies in a non-speaking role in a James Bond film that featured the last appearance in the titular role by an actor who had played the part more than twice. as a consequence, merchandise, artefacts and memorabilia relating to him could be worth a lot.

at the moment, granted, the market for Dolph Lundgren related memorabilia is at an odd and low ebb. at the high end of the market, where this text would belong, at present the most expensive item is a Red Scorpion t-shirt, which would set you back just south of £15. weirdly, you can get a Rocky IV "I Must Break You" shirt for about half that.

should it be the case, however, that the market related to memorabilia celebrating the greatest of tallest actors out of Sweden to have made their debut in movies in a non-speaking role in a James Bond film that featured the last appearance in the titular role by an actor who had played the part more than twice, and it turns out that this book was used by Dolph Lundrgen as a shooting script for the celebrated cinematic adaptation of Masters Of The Universe, then at auction this could easily realise a final sale value of a million pounds, less commission and taxes.

man, that is quite some generous gift off of the Viscount of Stockton. perhaps i should feel bad that i couldn't be bothered to get him anything in return. not that i would sell it, of course. ha ha, no, of course i would if someone waved a million at me.



that is indeed the hologramatic 'Death Star' coaster in action, in as far as it hosting a mug rather than doing all that laser stuff i mention.

the mug? it is one that the 75% of my family that you like more than you like me got me for a Father's Day gift during the course of 2015. yes indeed, that is the character of Dark Warf on it, from the same film as the coaster. you can't see the text, but on the other side of the mug it features that iconic line when, and here is a *** SPOILER WARNING *** for you, Dark Warf, the Supreme Ruler of the Cylons, confesses to Harry that it was not General Zod but in fact his brother, Thor, that killed Aladdin. or something along those lines.

my great thanks and appreciation again, then, to Sharpie, the incumbent Viscount of Stockton, for these exceptionally generous gifts. long may his reign as whatever a Viscount actually does continue. and i am reasonably sure that a Viscount is in fact a biscuit rather than a legislative or hierarchical title, but never mind that now, it just looks good on business cards.




be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

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