Like Mother Like Daughter

hey everyone


well, i am not really in the business of having 'guest articles' on this site of mine; i think the closest is when i have posted the odd funny article or obituary, with the relevant credit being attached. other than that, if memory serves, the only other guest articles over the last five or so years were from Fraser, namely his musings on Chaka Demus and Pliers, and the article he forced me to write when i was in the wrong about a Hawk Man character on Buck Rodgers.

however, dear readers, exactly who would refuse a request from their dear Mum to put a specific article up??

Gillian and Grant, in a rather rich vein of form, have sent some more pictures this week. i think that's two lots in the space of two weeks, quite an achievement for this apparently scarce if not rare thing down there.

and with those digs i wonder why they don't send more.....moving along, some of the pics were at some sort of funfair or amusement arcade, and feature young Katie riding on a carousel horse, clearly enjoying it!





before we continue, Gillian please note - this is Mum's article, i am the messenger!

Mum seemed to recall pictures of Gillian in a similar pose to Katie, and her recollections were not to be doubted. ladies and members of the gentry that read this site, i hereby give you Gillian, aged (i think) about 5. and a bit..





a rather nice co-incidence! as best we can work out, the pics of Gillian are from the lovely Torquay, in the summer of 1983 when we had a most excellent camping holiday picture down there. i think i have posted some pics from that holiday before. i reminisce again anyway - that was the summer during which The Kinks' Come Dancing ruled the chart, we went to the then prestigious Radio One Roadshow (they probably don't do it anymore), we had all just seen the "last ever" Star Wars film, Return Of The Jedi, at the cinema, and a certain band called Frankie Goes To Hollywood was about to be unleashed onto the mainstream...

now, the above two pictures are pretty good for a comparison, but the next two are even better! here's Katie again.....





and here's Gillian!...................





well, we at least think that the pictures are from Torquay! Gillian has the sun-burned white hair we three returned to the UK from Australia with! i suppose it is remotely possible that they are from the land next door to the one that Gillian lives in now. i think they are Torquay though - if it was Blackpool, we would have only gone in October for the lights, and Gillian would not be wearing summer attire!

anyway, hope you liked the pics and the memories, in particular Gillian! don't worry too much sis, i suspect that as and when Grandma persuades James to pose as Adam Ant she will have a rather interesting article about me to pose......but until then, i confess nothing!!



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

In Defence Of Christian Bale

OK, by now i would imagine that just about everyone has had a listen to, and a good giggle at Christian Bale's apparent "rant" on the set of Terminator Salvation. if you have somehow missed it, you can download the - and note this - unedited version by clicking here. and hats off to the genius who came up with the "remix dance" version of it which you can download by clicking here.

now, jokes and laughs aside, it's difficult not to sympathize with Christian Bale in this incident. a film scene takes hours, if not days, to set up, and of course costs a few million dollars to make. an apparent professional wandering into the middle of it isn't very wise at all; one loses lighting, set-up and so on. when an actor fluffs his or her lines, they can at least pretty much start again - not so the case when the actual set is disturbed.

also, people seem to have missed out on Mr Bale acknowledging that the intruder is a "nice guy". i think the tirade was to make sure the guy, or anyone else, did it again. there are certain "luvvies" out there that would have ensured that the guy was fired and never worked again.

happy listening!!!!


be excellent to each other, and respect film sets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Terminator Salvation update

hey everyone


a very well done indeed to this site (click here) for delivering some awesome new pictures from the excellent looking Terminator Salvation film!!

this first pic is rather curious - are we going to get some sort of High Noon or Fistful Of Dollars stand off shoot out?





by all means click on the link above to go and see the rather excellent article which goes with these pictures, but take some care as perhaps a *** SPOILER WARNING *** would be appropriate!





with this excellent looking film AND Tales Of An Ancient Empire due this year, well, i guess it's looking like an ace time for us fans of quality 80s cinema!





no idea what's going on in the picture below, but it doesn't look at all pleasant!





so, thus far in his career Christian Bale has got to play John Connor, Batman and Patrick Bateman. now all he needs to do is play a Jedi somewhere and fit in a stint as Bond and then he will have the most complete film career ever!!






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

Oscar material?

i confess i have not seen many of the Oscar contenders. i also make no secret of the fact that the Oscars, by and large, tend to get it all wrong in regards of achievement and popularity. of late they have got better, but not that much.


in regards of the Best Actor nominations, i have only seen one of them thus far, the one that is seen as the "big favourite"...





.....and i must say that if this is the favourite, i am not all that excited about seeing the other four performances, then.

don't get me wrong, i'm a very big Rourke fan. the terrifying, chilling Angel Heart ranks as an all time classic in my books, and Year Of The Dragon has been sadly overlooked as a rough, unpleasant gem.

Rourke is not bad in this. the physical work he does is, without question, exceptional. he makes the most of the dialogue he's given (one moving speech about being alone, one ace comment about Kurt Cobain), but in neither instance is it spectacular or what one would call above average. if anything, the real star performance from this film is Marisa Tomei really; she's the one you walk away from the most impressed with.

if one went with a like-for-like comparison in regards of Oscar glory, the only one you can compare Rourke's turn in The Wrestler too is De Niro in Raging Bull. yeah, if you have seen both, i think you see the point i am making. nice work, Mr Rourke, welcome back, but this isn't really a triumph of the art, is it?

if he wins the Oscar for this, then it will be back to the days of popular, sympathy awarding rather than merit. Rourke winning the Oscar for The Wrestler will be akin to Hanks for Forrest Gump and Washington for Training Day, which is "gee, we really like him and the film wasn't bad, here, take a gold man home". and still no one to this day can explain why on earth Kevin Spacey was considered the Best Actor for his grinning in the dismal film American Beauty.

the problem is perhaps the Oscars. the three above who won it didn't deserve it for those films, and all too often we see the best performances of the year get ignored - remember how Robert Downey jnr was denied for his astonishing work as and in Chaplin and, worst of all in recent years, they somehow didn't give the Oscar to Bill Murray for his magnificent turn in Lost In Translation. and don't get me started on how they never once recognized Kubrick's astonishing film-making, yet nonetheless had the audacity to play an unheard of individual tribute to him after his passing.

it's too easy to say "oh, the Oscars don't matter". i am afraid that they do very much matter to film lovers - it's the biggest celebration event on the calendar, which makes it all the more sad that they make a mess of who they give the actual awards to.





quite telling, and proving my point somewhat, is the fact that The Wrestler is absent from the Picture and Director nominations. as much as you may want to like it, it isn't a terribly interesting or particularly good film. the shaky, amateur / "reality" camerawork approach is just tired and stale, sadly. the story itself has been done time and time again, sometimes not as good but quite often much better than this. the whole thing is Rocky Balboa played for depression rather than compassion.

should Rourke clock the Oscar for this, well, good luck to him, and i hope it helps the lad out in getting more roles and keeping him on his feet. if, however, this really is the best acting performance of the last year, well then, the year was evidently not quite as good as i recall it being in the movies.

as for watching The Wrestler, well, my advice would be that it will turn up on satellite tv or something sooner rather than later.



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

The Fruit Of The (New Zea)Land

well, well, well, busy times in New Zealand it would seem! not only have that lot over there remembered how to use the camera and send pictures, they also would appear to be growing things.

it seems that they are growing vegetables (radishes, i believe) rather than fruit as such, but if i had used "vegetable" instead of "fruit" in my title for this, well, it would just not have sounded of the quality you have all grown accustomed to, dear readers.

it would appear that Katie has adopted very much a "James style" of watering the growth in the garden, only Katie, being one month older and thus presumably more mature, ensures that the water at least gets onto some of the things that it should!





it would seem that young Daniel is allowed to help Katie with her gardening. well, either that or Katie allows him to pose in the pictures to add a touch of glamour to them!





all that i have seen and know of young Daniel would suggest that he will have as much fun pulling them all from the soil as Katie did with planting and growing them!!





oh go on then, you know i can't resist - Grant, is this all because some bloke down the pub told you that the sheep in New Zealand really like radishes, and if you give them one they let you [TEXT OBSCURED ON LEGAL ADVICE] even without going to the edge of a cliff??


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

visiting the birthday girl

hey everyone


it's sadly all too rare that we get to go and see Richard, Erika and the delightful Lyla, i am sorry to report. oh well, at least we make the most of it when we get to them!

Lyla turned two a week or so ago, and so it was time to visit and bestow upon her some nice gifts. James very kindly offered to, and in fact did, open most of her presents for her!

anyway, here's the birthday girl, who has got the hang of this walking / running business..





and here's James making some noise, watched carefully by The Don himself, Grandad!





and here are the two of them delving into the party packs that Erika made. they were most class packs, but as you can guess, they were rather more interested in each others' than their own!!





James really took a shine to the "chocolate money coins" in them! thanks again Erika!

speaking of taking a shine to things, James was mesmerized by Lyla's birthday present from her Mummy and Daddy!





the remote control to use it is somewhat undermined by the fact that a two (or three) year old in the car can override it, but nonetheless this battery powered street machine is rather class!! oh dear, i think Mummy and Daddy are going to have to verk very hard indeed to try and get you one of these!!

a big thank you to Richard, Lyla and Erika for the lovely dinner and good hospitality, and indeed an equally big thank you to Grandma and Grandad for taking us through! biggest thanks of all, though, is for Grandad and his great driving skills. the road home saw us go through a major rainstorm, and Grandad kept us all safe!


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

big snow - small pictures

hey everyone


well, as if you didn't know, there's been masses of snow in England today! my dear Uncle Trevor has kindly sent some pics of my old home village along. alas, for some reason, they are rather small in size - hope they are slightly visible!


first up is the old school house, home to Grandma & Grandad Harland for many a year, and my home for a good amount of time too.





next is "somewhere in Ayton"......





and finally, the Church, always proud and majestic, even with the layer of snow across it!





thanks for sending the pics along Trevor, a most valiant effort! i must admit i partially miss walking upon the snow, but mostly i am rather glad to be in warmer places!!!


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

Avatar update

hey everyone


well, i know my posts thus far on this one have been negative. i do, deep down, hope that this turns out to be decent, mind. the latest image available from it, however, is hardly all that interesting or telling :





it's probably one of those dodgy images that the major film sites get instructed to move, so if you have found this pic by happy accident searching the interwebnet, well, hope you like my page and hope this picture interests you!


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

belated birthday pictures

hey everyone

well, i did think it was rather strange that we didn't get any pictures of James' birthday party at school back in December! with all sorts going on i never queried it, but as chance would have it they found some on the computer today and sent them on!!!





it's rather odd looking at "new" pics of him with his long-ish hair, even though it's less than a month since he had his "air cute" as he calls it!





he was rather taken with his Superman cake, i would be rather surprised if he didn't put up something of a fight about letting anyone else have some of it!!!!





anyway, a very nice blast from the past! of course, if you are wondering, in the world of James Superman is now old fashioned and "just so last year". the current love, i am delighted to report, is a little known series of films which all bear the title Star Wars..................


may the force be with you!

on the throne

hello again


well, i wasn't too sure on these pictures appearing here really, but Michele seemed to find them as funny as i do, so here we go!

James has more or less got the hang of this "going to the bathroom" business; i dare say he has less "accidents" than most of us adults, really. in his wisdom, he more or less decided to skip trying out a potty first, instead opting to use the same loo as Mummy and Daddy, but with a "trainer seat".

the training seat didn't last long at all, and so one gets to see a rather interesting balancing act / disappearing trick every time James feels a call of nature!





wisely, it has to be said, James has discovered that the bathroom is an ideal place to catch up on some reading. it is remarkable that he somehow keeps his balance and holds and reads his beloved Batman book!





well done son, i imagine it won't be long before when you are at Grandma and Grandad's you will be taking Grandad's racing page off with you to the loo!!





and, of course, at home whenever i am missing one of my books or magazines, i guess i will know where to look!


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

an afternoon nap

hey everyone


well, i am trying my best to teach James the simple and important pleasures of life. one of those would most certainly be an afternoon nap on a nippy Saturday afternoon, in particular after a hectic shopping trip to spend our pocket money on a 'Green Latern' statue and book.


as James and Daddy had taken occupation of our two couches, Mummy was allowed to roam free for an hour or so, and decided to spend some of the time capturing the moment with the camera.





now, sensitive souls might want to proceed with caution before looking at the picture of me asleep!





i note that i didn't get any warm milk to drink to go with my nap!!



pleasant dreams, and be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lego Batman

hey everyone

well, one of the most ace presents i got for Christmas was the magnificent Lego Batman game for my rarely used PlayStation 2 from Mum and Dad. James, however, has decided that Grandma and Grandad in fact got him this game for his new-ish, rarely used PlayStation 2!





every day, if he's been a (by his standards) reasonably good boy, James gets to mess around with Batman, Robin, Bat Girl and all his other favourites for about half an hour or so before bath and bed time.

i could spin you some sort of tale about how it improves eye-hand co-ordination, gets him used to working with computers and all that stuff, i suppose. i imagine it does do some good like that, but the important thing is that James has enormous fun with it!





well, it looks like enormous fun at least. we rarely get to have a go at it ourselves, unless he gets really stuck with something. normally it's best to just leave him to get on with it, but every now and then it doesn't hurt to try and pinch the controller off him.......





....but you rarely get away with it!



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

Patrick McGoohan

“I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.”


there's not a great deal to prove by suggesting anything else - Patrick McGoohan, sadly deceased this week, will always be remembered as the iconic Number Six in the fantastic series The Prisoner. it's not like Mr McGoohan would have had all that much of an issue with this anyway, he knew that he had created something special and dazzling with the show, and was rightly proud of it.


he was of course never short of great in anything he did. outside of The Prisoner, i shall remember him fondly as the warden in the great Escape From Alcatraz, in which he went toe to toe with Clint Eastwood and pulled it off where so many others had failed. and, for what it's worth, Patrick McGoohan was the one redeeming feature of the otherwise awful, wildly inaccurate Mel Gibson offering Braveheart. watching him in that makes you just wish he would have played King Lear somewhere along the line.

there's not much more i can add, so i will leave it to the fine tribute from the BBC





Emmy-winning actor Patrick McGoohan, best known for starring in cult 1960s TV show The Prisoner, has died at the age of 80.

He died in Los Angeles after a short illness, his film producer son-in-law Cleve Landsberg told Associated Press.

McGoohan played the character Six in the surreal 1960s show, filmed in the north Wales village of Portmeirion.

He won two Emmy awards for his work on TV detective series Columbo, playing different characters.
The first came for an episode of the series in 1974, with another 16 years later.




The screen star also won a Bafta award for best television actor in 1959 for his role in The Greatest Man In The World, a one-off drama in ITV's Armchair Theatre series.

In more recent years, McGoohan played King Edward Longshanks in the 1995 Mel Gibson film Braveheart

The actor, who was born in New York and raised in England and Ireland, came to screen prominence in TV series Danger Man, in which he played a secret service agent. The programme later aired as Secret Agent in the US.

He was later considered for the role of James Bond for the movie Dr No.
But McGoohan was chiefly associated with cult ITV drama The Prisoner, writing some of the episodes himself under a different name.

His character spent the entire time attempting to escape from The Village and finding out the identity of his captor, the elusive Number One.

He repeatedly declared: "I am not a number - I am a free man!"
In 2000, McGoohan reprised his most famous role in an episode of The Simpsons.


be seeing you................

Avatar - are you ready to yawn?

hey everyone

of the films on the way in 2009, the one which is the most desperate to attract any sort of attention is Avatar, a film which marks the return of James Cameron. the return of James Cameron to making films is something which they want you to get all excited about. in fairness we should be, but as it turns out not all that many are.

film lovers should be excited about a new James Cameron project, but he tends to make it difficult for one to do this. Cameron is responsible for two of the greatest films of the 80's, the masterpiece that was The Terminator and the brilliant Aliens. after those two films, however, it seems to have all gone somewhat pearshaped.

Terminator 2, whilst boasting some of the greatest special effects in the history of cinema, illustrated that Cameron had no realisation or appreciation for the mythology he unleashed in the first Terminator film. it was quite something for us to buy The Terminator as a reprogrammed "good guy", but the notion of a Terminator not killing / "terminating" people, a pledge to that effect and other lame lines like "hasta la vista" was all a bit too much to swallow.

after that we got The Abyss, a none too bad sci-fi romp, but one that should have been visually stunning. it wasn't, with Cameron's camera perpetually focused on his fancy effects, and no breathtaking, vast illustration of the actual abyss of the film. if Ridley Scott had made this one, no doubt it would have been a masterpiece.

True Lies was mildly amusing and enjoyable when it wasn't busy telling you that they were doing all the things that had never been done in a James Bond film. and then we get to Titanic. whatever merits and faults the film has, everyone who saw it more or less regretted doing so after the Oscars, when Cameron gave his embarrassing "king of the world" acceptance speech, only to go into his demeaning, patronizing moment of silence for the "victims of the Titanic". he wisely climbed into a hole and out of public sight after that debacle.


and now James Cameron is back. he hasn't been away all that long - in the last ten years he did host a rather good documentary on 2001 and, if i recall, babbled something or other about finding "the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth", although the documentary he promised about it has yet to surface.

the plot and what have you of Avatar is all rather sketchy; something about a band of humans fighting aliens. what Cameron has spoken of about the project, however, is enough to dampen any excitement. yet again he speaks enthusiastically about the technology - the effects in the film, the 3D filming - and barely a word on the actors, script or plot. oh dear.

to make things worse, just have a look at one of the first images released of the film :





yes, that's right, it is a bed. a bed. a futuristic, vision of the future bed perhaps, but a bed all the same. doesn't this just remind you of how the makers of the greatly anticipated Matrix sequel, Matrix Reloaded, got all enthusastic about the fact that they had built their own stretch of highway for the film? i am not sure how excited we were all supposed to get about 8 or so miles of concrete, but i do know that the film was a major disappointment. the few bits we know of Avatar suggest that we are heading the same way with this one.

if i'm wrong and Avatar turns out to be a masterpiece (i would settle for watchable at this stage), i'll confess as much here. as Ridley Scott seems to have moved away from sci-fi and Spielberg has become hit-and-miss (Minority Report a hit, War Of The Worlds a dodgy miss) the world could really do with James Cameron coming along and lifting the genre. methinks, however, that by the time Avatar hits the cinema, we shall all have been so dazzled by Star Trek and, tellingly, Terminator Salvation that this one will just go down as an obscure footnote in cinema.


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

Tales Of An Ancient Empire

well, so what if this film is coming out some 27 or 28 years after it was promised at the end of the magnificent film The Sword And The Sorcerer? the rumours were around last year that Tales Of An Ancient Empire was finally going to get made, and the purpose of this post is to show off the pictures that mean it is getting made! nice one!





there's no sign yet of any of the original cast, but the stories are that Lee Horsely will reprise the role of Talon in this highly anticipated follow up. clearly he won't be the central character anymore, but it will be ace if he's there!





even if Talon doesn't feature, well, as long as it is rip-roaring good fun like the first film, who's really going to grumble about it? the pictures all suggest that there's going to be the same mix of swordplay and magic on the go, as well as the apparent addition of vampires.





there's not been a picture of the three bladed Sword of Talon released as of yet, but you can understand them not showing off everything at once. if they wish for the film to be well supported, and they don't wish my brother Richard to come and pay them a visit to "discuss" the matter, then they had better have it in the film!





no picture either of Christopher Lambert, who is supposed to be appearing in it. this is according to rumours that have stemmed from the writer/director at least. it would be class if he turned up in it.





the bad news for me, my brother Richard and all over lovers of The Sword And The Sorcerer would be that the promised 2009 release date is looking increasingly likely to be moved to 2010. we all want to see this as soon as possible (we've only waited since 1983 or 1984 for it), but i suppose we're lucky to be getting it at all, a few months won't make that much difference.





well, there you have it. it looks as cheap yet not tacky as the original film did, which is no bad thing. as long as they go with onscreen effects rather than computer stuff i think us fans will be delighted with it, or at the least go and see it with an open mind.



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

for all your shopping requirements

hey everyone

well, if you browse the official site of The King, you will find that the store section sells just about every item you could ever think of, and then a few more.

i do believe that the item below is getting bought for James!






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

birthday wishes

hey everyone

well, today is a fantastic day of celebration in the world of quality music, is it not?

first up, today is the birthday of The King





there are many, many celebrations around the world to mark the event, but the centrepiece of these celebrations would be the party being held at Graceland. if you visit the official site of The King you can watch a video feed thingie of the celebrations as they get underway. i believe the party is scheduled to last for 3 days, which is a most fitting tribute to The King.


by a quirk of fate, The King is not the only fine singer celebrating today





happy birthday, Mr David "Derek" Bowie. if you felt the need to make some new music to celebrate, well, i dare say us fans would not object.

James is very excited about these birthdays, mostly because it means we have some cake tonight!!!


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

Handy Mani

hey everyone

well, when James started getting all excited about wanting to see someone called Mani, those of you who know me will know exactly how much pride and joy i sensed. initially, i had no idea where or when he had heard of the great Gary "Mani" Mounfield, the king of the bass players, the groove of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream. nonetheless, i was rather looking forward to playing either The Stone Roses or Vanishing Point on the stereo, with James and i getting down to the sounds.


there was a certain amount of disappointment, then, when it turned out that the Mani which James was so enthusastic about was in fact Manny, or rather Handy Manny, some show that he had caught by chance on the Disney channel.





Handy Manny doesn't quite feature as much bass excellence as i would have hoped, but nonetheless it's not too abad show. Manny seems to spend his days going around town with a magical talking, walking set of tools, fixing various things for little or no payment. nice work if you can get it.


nice one James - after we have got him all that we can of Batman, Superman, Charlie & Lola, Numberjacks and Winnie The Pooh it's great to know that you will strive to keep us on our toes and find further favourites to watch!





let's hope that someone somewhere clocks that a show called Handy Mani would be a winner. i think it would be a quality, class and highly educational show, featuring Mani wandering around the world and assisting bands and the like with any bass related issues or emergencies. now, i am not sure how many bass incidents there could be for Mani to come in and solve, but i dare say someone could come up with a series' worth of adventures. for a start it would seem that The Rolling Stones and The Who do not have a full time bass player as such, so there's two quality adventures for him!


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