the fallen leaf

hello there

so, October it is. the 8 sounding month which is, look you see, actually 10. yes, this is down to some monks or something.

i am pretty sure that last year (or the one before) there was an exhaustive and comprehensive look at the origins of the month (in terms of name), so no such shall be here. but, to clarify, indeed it was the case that the month existed before the U2 album of the same name, so no, the month was not named after the album. but, if at some stage someone could rename a month after a U2 album that would be fine. 

going somewhat against how i would do these calendar things, here, take a look. this is a close up of the Star Wars calendar for this month (October 2020), in non-Commodore 64 mode. it's that less than a second, blink and you would miss it moment from The Empire Strikes Back when all them bounty hunter characters were shown together, and all but one were either not seen again ever or not seen again for many, many years. 

why, exactly, beyond the aesthetics, did this particular image (and yes, mostly Boba Fett) become some iconic and so treasured by those what tend to take Star Wars rather more seriously than intended? a fair and interesting question. i think maybe it's because this was the first instance of something different being hinted at in the Star Wars world; something as darker, harder an unexpected as bounty hunters wandering space. a good friend once did say that science fiction films are generally just westerns with lasers. 

anyway, for those of you who (weirdly) just come to this blog once a month to grab a more conventional calendar image so as to use it for practical reasons and save the expense of buying your own, well, sure. here's the month that is this month (October 2020) as displayed on the smart New Zealand calendar off of Mum & Dad.

i probably have no need (or little) to clarify, but yes, indeed that is a quite remarkable image of the equally quite remarkable tasman lake. 

any remarkable, noteworthy or interesting dates in the month of October? well, yes, every single date is going to be of some significance to someone somewhere. but, for the sake of giving reason to pause for thought, and since we are here now, here's some milestones, anniversaries or stroke of luck co-incidences for your indulgence. 

1 - it was on this day that Catalonia held an independence referendum, back in those comparatively easier days of 2017. the Spanish government did not particularly like this and made it known, but they are notoriously difficult to please. 

2 - as far as i am concerned it's a very happy birthday indeed to Philip Oakley, born on this very day in 1955. yes, i know most just call him "that twat out of Human League", but he did the vocals on Electric Dreams, and that is one awesome song. just let him do his thing, man. 

4 - Graham Chapman became the first (official) Monty Python member to (officially) die, and it happened on this day in 1989. aspects of his funeral were filmed and broadcast, with it all featuring a good deal more use of the word "f***" than one would usually expect at such an event. 

6 - Jan Hammer enters (so to speak) the UK singles chart at number 30 with Miami Vice theme on this day in 1985. making this all the more satisfactory is the fact that, on the same chart, Elton John could only shift enough copies of Nikita to make number 41.

7 - the to date, and seemingly ever increasingly likely to be, final appearance of Sean Connery as James Bond, Never Say Never Again, got released on this day in 1983. improbably it was the second James Bond film to come out that year. more here. 

9 - Pope John Paul II and the Dali Lama had a private meeting at the Vatican on this day in 1980. maybe they met to discuss Che Guevara, as he was executed in Bolivia on this same date but in 1967. or, you never know, maybe Dali brought some duty free fags, John Paul II got some cans in, and they watched a video or something. 

11 - Marcus Bai, widely regarded as Papua New Guinea's best, greatest and most important rugby league player ever, was born on this day in 1972. 

thank you for the picture

13 - Paul Simon, the short(er) one (and most grumpy one) out of Simon & Garkfunkel, was born on this day in 1941. 

17 - the film Playing God got released on this day in 1997. officially, at least, as i can recall seeing a pirate video of it well before then. for some reason it got bad reviews, which is a shame as it was a decent film. it stars Mulder out of X Files, the excellent Timothy Hutton and Angelina Jolie. well worth finding a copy and watching, to be honest. 

19 - on this day in 2001 the BBC got most excited (and enthusiastic) about the (brief) return of Top Of The Pops and Sir Jimmy. more details here, but the basics would be that for some reason the BBC were eager to present Zoe Ball as the Sir Jimmy for the new century. hence, presumably, the cigar. 

20 - g'day, for strewth, the Sydney Opera House was formally and officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on this day in 1973. it opened a mere ten (10) years after expected and the budget only went slightly over planned, to the tune of 1357%. ad hoc concerts, presumably for the benefit of people working on the site, were held there years before the official opening. for trivia fans, it is widely accepted that the first ever performance in front of (such) an audience at the Sydney Opera House was by Paul Robeson in 1960. 

21 - Carrie Fisher, most noted for being Princess Leia out of Star Wars but someone who was also once married to the shorter, grumpier one out of Simon & Garfunkel, was born this day in 1956. 

23 - we tend to think of politicians doing stupid things as a modern phenomenon. in 1812, yes on this day, General Claude François de Malet (which has to be the most French name ever) attempted to have himself declared Emperor of France simply by going around telling everyone that the incumbent Emperor, Napoleon, had died whilst (sort of) on holiday in Russia. did it work? no. 

26 - The Smiths enter the UK singles chart at 16 with Ask on this day in 1986. for some reason i have always felt that The Smiths are an exceptionally October band, so yes i did some more research than usual for this to find that out. 

27 - and straight in at number one on the UK singles chart on this day in 1991 was The Fly by U2. in a very small way i helped by heading from college to town on the bus to go and buy the CD single. eventually i gave that CD single to a dear friend that i've not been in touch with for a while, but do very much miss. no doubt they do not feel the same, but may life be treating them well. 

that's a few dates for you to think of then, but as ever i would suggest you are much better off just focusing on things what are important to you. although, of course, if The Smiths are important to you, or for that matter any of the many failed attempts by anyone French to do anything, well then there you go. 

for the sake of uniformity, then, here's a complete look at the complete (kind of) Star Wars calendar for this month, assuming you define "this month" as October 2020. 

it was, of course, that for many years Boba Fett was the single most memorable of the bounty hunters which (or what) were presented in The Empire Strikes Back. now, not so much. the one that looks like a metal pole, IG something, has had a revisionist revival thanks to The Mandalorinan. whilst Dengar has been wisely discarded, Bossk has emerged as the best of them all. this is because he (assuming he is a he) in some video computer game called Battlefront II, is f*****g awesome. in it he makes a smart "blergh" noise all the time, and has Predator style vision. 

now is, of course, the time for me to consider investing in a calendar for next year. that would be if i and everyone else have confidence enough to assume another year shall follow this. let me go and inspect what range of calendars Poundland have decided to make available. 

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