Something for Everyone?

I am happy to present this ludicrously wonderful Best Coast video on the recommendation of a friend, rather more au courant than me.  

Attention to Detail

If  you haven't caught this sweet viral video yet, trust me you'll like it.  It comes from the studios of Aardmann, creators of Wallace and Grommit.  Dot is the world's smallest stop-motion animation and it's shot on the Nokia N8.   Dot really is that tiny.  Marvel at how it was all achieved in the second film below.

Outward Bound

I am not sure if anyone's terribly interested, but I am off on holiday here till the beginning of September.  As the the old coastguard house, part of a row of seven (the big dark smudge on top of this Dorset cliff) has no electricity,  I shall be in radio silence.  Unable then, to answer any comments were you to be kind enough to think of making any.  There's a tempest and torrential rain forecast for tomorrow as we drive there across the fields ( who's going to open the damn gates? You guessed it) and unload food, water, foul weather gear, torch batteries, gas mantles and rather a lot of booze.
I think I might be getting too old for this game. I'll tell you later.

My son Will made a little film about the place . He introduces it like this "We shot this at one of my favorite places in the world, in Dorset. Exact location to remain a secret. Its an adaptation of a joke my dad used to tell; any excuse for a film.  And this was real micro- budget. 75 pounds for radio mics, and 25 for sandwiches and petrol!

Image © Rosie West 

The British Afloat

I came across this jolly little film of a Battersea Park Gala in the sixties and nearly capsized watching the frolics on the boating lake.


It's a wonderfully dated vignette of innocent summer fun and I hope it will raise your endorphin levels too.  For my British chums of a certain vintage, spot stalwarts of tv entertainment and newscasting and the occasional home-grown film star.  I listed Elsie Tanner, Nicholas Parsons, Sam Kydd, Honor Blackman, Shirley Anne Field and more..  Answers on a postcard please.   

Illustration © Rosie West

Uniforms and Horses - Again

I have just recommended this Armstrong and Miller clip to 'wimpy cat blogger' (except he's definitely not)  rurritable after he said he was startled by how big Liverpool police horses were.  See his post featuring a classic Beatles  video with old green buses (destination 'Penny Lane') and some big horses here.

We all know I can barely ride a horse but somehow they keep trotting onto my blog.  No apologies for yet another of my four-legged friends or for some more gorgeous  Armstrong and Miller whose classic RAF sketch I brought to you not long ago.

A Bear's Eye View of London

This might make you beary-eyed. Call me a silly old thing but I defy anyone not to go awwww at Misery Bear's trip to London care of the BBC.

Oi Punk! Toothpaste Girls In Town

I wrote here about my niece Julia (in the white shades) who is a member of the sensational girl band Las Kellies from Argentina. The world tour included Barcelona, Berlin, Paris and most recently here in London at The Urban Bar in Whitechapel and Trinity Church in Bristol. Their indie punk sound and cheerleading style guarantees a reaction which manifests itself in dancing .. even in Paris which is some kind of a record. I saw them dressed as cave girls with papier maché bones in their hair, but I *love* the toothpaste look.

*Interior Design* note : The Kellies' number OLD MAN features a very moving tablescape in this Video

This is a drawing I did of Julia when we were on holiday in June in France

Here is one of her drawings from her UGLY BUNNY oeuvre

Credit: Toothpaste girls from http://www.flickr.com/photos/obenson

Tower Bridge Nightmare Jump

I am one of those people who can't go near a platform's edge or a precipice without toying with the idea of being pushed or tripping or jumping into the abyss. Similarly, when driving over Tower Bridge, I just can't help wondering whether it might just open and if I've just got enough speed j u s t to make it over..



Well here is someone who must have contemplated it with a certain degree of precision. After months of secret planning, Australian motorcross star Robbie Maddison bridged the gap at three in the morning of 13th July. He was allowed very little time to perform the stunt -well it was over in the death-defying blink of an eye - and there was no prior publicity. Consequently very few spectators saw this extraordinary moment (of madness) but it was expertly documented as you will see.









I forgot to tell you he'd include a backflip





Look No Hands! omigod






Interesting architecture (I can't look)






Phew





See the heart-stopping footage here.


All images and video courtesy Sky News

Nancy Sinatra : Shy Dominatrix

image from http://ana-lee.livejournal.com

These Boots Are Made For Walkin' Video

Is it fair to laugh at the coy raunchiness of Nancy Sinatra and friends who seem to have lost their trousers/pants/kilts? It all reminds me of a nightmare I used to have where I would find myself at a party in nothing but a sweater. Maybe I could have enjoyed the dream if I'd had a pair of patent leather bootees and a dance routine?

Oh Nancy, what an incredibly good-natured dominatrix you turned out to be!

What possible dangers are those red flags pointing up? Hand Jive Ahead and a slap in the face with a wet fish? She and those gals in pastel angora woollies are hardly gonna grind their heels into your forehead when they

w a l k a l l o v e r y o u .

It was 1966, remember. Nancy's pretty wooden but the whole routine's as camp as a row of ridge tents. Wunderbar.

Courtesy of My Space Videos

Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?

Hmm, I DO. No I DON'T. Yes I DO. I don't know. If anything's going to convince me that all I want is what I've got it's this. Frank Sinatra seduces us all into not caring a fig or a fabergé egg in one of my all-time favourite films HIGH SOCIETY.