keep on truckin'

Busy weekend so only a shorty today. When I have more time, I'm planning on a longer posting or series of postings on underground comics. Just for a little taster here is Robert Crumb's Keep on Truckin'. I read somewhere that some copyright lawyers (let it never be said that this blog does not address matters of law) pointed out to him that this pic was used so often in violation of copyright that if he sued, he could make - to borrow a phrase - 'seriously offensive' money.

His reply? Words to the effect of 'nah, can't be bothered'.

Much credit to him for that.

Oh by the way - the Curious Black Cat - to whom Hat Tip mentioned the council who changed the name of Spotted Dick in their canteen to Spotted Richard in a comment on the great Haribo copulating citrus fruit shock horror story. It's actually true. It was Flintshire County Council. A spokesperson helpfully explained that this was done following 'unwelcome and childish comments'

A spotted Richard

Paedogeddon strikes again

The picture above is a Rabbit Public Service - how to spot a paedophile. They look like that! Actually - with Hat Tip to Shorpy (link to left) the pic is of the 'Woodberry Forest Gym Team' circa 1910 but why let reality get in the way of a good bonkers conspiracy theory. I wanted to post the wonderful Brass Eye Paedogeddon but unfortunately the Brass Eye clips on YouTube have had embedding disabled.

The cause of this outbreak of laboured sarcasm is the latest example of how when paedophilia comes up as a topic, the powers that be lose all reason and start lashing out with insane and objectionable measures. The latest measures, while no doubt doing nothing to deter or even inconvenience genuine paedophiles, attack the balance between rulers and ruled in a purposeless and illiberal in equal measure way. The nub of the 'Vetting and Barring Scheme' - to come into force next month - is that parents who regularly ferry groups of children on behalf of sports or social clubs will have to undergo criminal record checks - or face fines of up to £5,000. Apparently, 11.3 million people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to have to register under the scheme.

I should perhaps declare an interest as for a number of years when they were younger I used to drive my sons and their mates to weekend cricket and football. Now I would have to register in order to do this. I hasten to say i have nothing to hide but what proportionate good is done by this? The measure seems clunkily bossy and paranoid and unlikely to do any or at most much good in equal measure. The measure will do harm in that it will deter people from volunteering. Some children - for example those of single parents on low incomes - need this kind of support and are much less likely to get it if this kind of obstacle is thrown up. Registration is needed for 'activities involving children' just once if the contact is overnight. This would seem to criminalise the parents of children who invite their friends over for a sleepover if it is in the context of a club or whatever should they not be in possession of the relevant documentation. Also, what kind of world is created in the minds of children if they are to see every adult as some potential paedophile?

Shout 'paedophile' and destroy all reason.

Have the Dead with Deal to soothe the troubled brow...

And what can Haribo be thinking of?

Tsk!

Crasher Squirrel

The little creature known as Crasher Squirrel (see 17th August - the original was taken at a place called Lake Minnewanka - no, I am not making this up!) is now all over everywhere through the miracle of photoshopping. Here he is with Lincoln (nice hat squirrel!) The little fellow must be knocking on a bit - here he is making friends with Putin. There is inevitably one of him with Hitler but as nazis are banned for now, it's not going up.

And while on the subject of the BBC...

I just can't help myself today. Hat Tip to Liberal Conspiracy.

While on the subject of nazis...

You may have noticed the endless stream of Downfall parodies on YouTube. Well it's no more Mr Nice Guy and Hitler finally declares war on Hitler Parodies...

That's enough Nazis. Ed.

Hat Tip to b3ta.com

Nazi Scum Time

Is the BBC run by complete pillocks? Okay, the answer is plainly 'yes' but further exposition is required. It is presently again contemplating its much vaunted 'impartiality'. The last time the BBC's 'impartiality' got a walk around the park was back in January when, in common with Sky (prop: its would-be nemesis James Murdoch), it refused to carry the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for Gaza, complete with a flurry of hand wringing as regards its 'impartiality' - which presumably extends to imapartiality as between the victimisers and the victimised. But I digress.

The BBC has been pondering whether to invite the BNP - or more particularly its gruesome gargoyle (and very poor advert for the excellence of 'indigenous Caucasians' in BNPspeak - see above), of a leader on to Question Time. It's our old friend 'impartiality' again and the BNP is now represented at European Parliament, Greater London Assembly and County Council level, the argument goes. The interests of impartiality require the BNP on Question Time.

Oh yeah?

Ah but - I can hear the cry - what about democracy? However repulsive the BNP may be, it is a registered, lawful political party with an elected presence. But the BNP is in no sense a 'normal' party. It chooses which of its assorted elected members' constituents it sees fit to represent. The choice is of course made on the basis of race. And that is quite apart from the track record for acts of violence and holocaust denial on the part of many of its prominent members. No doubt many of its rank and file members are 'merely' bigots, buffoons and general losers but let there be no doubt as to the nature of its leadership. Nazi scum with a superficial public relations gloss are still nazi scum. So what to do? No doubt whatever the outcome, the BNP will garner huge amounts of publicity. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have already said that they will debate with the BNP. Labour has done its usual jellyfish impersonation. Having previously had a policy not to share a platform with the BNP, they have caved in instantly, with the caveat that no-one should be forced to debate with the BNP. Subject to that, they intend tio put a cabinet minister out.

What to do? I would grudgingly concede that the BNP are entitled to free speech. Up until their freedom of speech impinges on the freedoms of other people. I would not wish for them to be able to claim some spurious martyrdom, No doubt the BBC will put Griffin on Question Time and no doubt there will be riots outside, and possibly inside the TV studio. No doubt the mainstream political parties will put up panelists to share the platform with him.

What should be done, then? Rather like the bishop who told a would-be convert that he was obliged to believe in hell but not that anyone was in it, if the BNP are entitled to free speech then no-one is obliged to listen to them. The remaining three or so members of the Labour Party could start by seeking to reverse the party's spineless capitulation on not sharing a platform with the BNP. It would be nice - if improbable - if other mainstream parties took the same position and refused to share a platform. No doubt some bottom feeders could also be found to turn up but if it was apparent that no-one but the bottom feeders would play ball with the new BBC exercise in 'impartiality' then the exercise would be, and be seen to be, a busted flush.

Unfortunately, this will not happen.

On a more cheerful note, have some more Fleetwood Mac. This is from their 2009 tour - Go Your Own Way - note the video and audio quality.

Keith Waterhouse and Stevie Nicks

The death of Keith Waterhouse at the age of 80 (nice headline in The Times - 'Wit's End' ) put me in mind of his book - which I confess I have never read - Billy Liar - and its film adaptation, which I most certainly have seen. Above is a trailer for the film, directed by John Schlesinger. Anyone who has never seen it and gets a chance to do so should make a point of not missing it. It is a real period piece, set in northern England in the late 1950s but introduces such a delicious element of surrealism from the demented, and mendacious, mind of the principal character that time and place are overridden in crazed - and very funny - fantasy. The backdrop, northern England at the fag end of the industrial era, brings back half remembered images from my childhood and the actors are a combination of the even then venerable (Wilfred Pickles and Finlay Currie even) and the then new and young: Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Leonard Rossiter and Rodney Bewes. Do yourself a favour - check it out.

Wholly unconnected - here is Fleetwood Mac in Stevie Nicks with knobs on mode and Rhiannon. Stevie Nicks did induce great excitement among gentlemen of a certain age. I have to confess I do see why. She's 61 now by the way...

Oh dear and bear...

Hat Tip to Ute. The clip below shows what declining media standards look like ...

Bouvet Island and Teletubbies

These are dog days. Everyone is either on holiday or wondering why it has to be them sitting around waiting for something to happen when the rest of humanity gets back from holiday. I look out of the window in central Birmingham. The weather is cranking into action for the Bank Holiday weekend - it is grey, cold and raining. The signs of autumn are upon us - the Edinburgh Festival, Notting Hill Carnival very imminent. Then the Last Night of the Proms, the slippery slope to autumn and winter.

I had thought of doing a blog on how I would have liked to cross-examine the now late Senator Edward Kennedy as regards Chappaquidick - complete with a list of awkward questions. I would have enjoyed doing that. Maybe some other time. The appalling nature of what he did still echoes through the decades but the territory is well enough explored by others.

Instead a mention for Bouvet Island (picture above). It is the most remote island in the world, the nearest land being Queen Maud Land (Antarctica) 1,600 miles away. It is a Norwegian dependency and is basically ice covered volcanic rock. Unsurprisingly its population is - and always has been - zero. Strangely, a boat with supplies was found on the island in 1964 but the occupiers of the boat were never located or even identified (the coast is mostly inaccessible). Mildly amusingly, a map of Bouvet Island shows a coastal feature called Cape Circoncision - no translation needed, I surmise. Don't ask me why.

The weird thing is this. Despite being uninhabited, Bouvet Island has an internet country code top level domain (.bv). Why? What's the point? You could construct the most delicious conspiracy theory out of this. In fact feel free to.

Talking of weird, something for the (Bank Holiday) weekend - Pink Floyd's early offering See Emily Play complete with - erm - the Teletubbies. Just enjoy!

The monument to Viscount Rowland Hill

This is - as the young people say - a bit random but I went to Shrewsbury today and further indulged my mild fixation with the monument to Viscount Rowland Hill. For the uninitiated, Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire - loosely speaking north of the West Midlands, east of north Wales and south of Cheshire. It needs to be defined in relation to other places as frankly it is a bit of a backwater - rather a pretty and historic backwater but a backwater nonetheless.

Shrewsbury has some rather splendid street names such as Abbey Foregate, Wyle Cop and - my personal favourite - Dogpole.

It also has the most over the top monument I have ever seen - okay I haven't seen the pyramids or the Taj Mahal but you get my general drift. By the Shirehall - the name may conjure up an image of a bosky old building but it is an overblown 60s or 70s monstrosity of a county council building with unprepossessing Crown Court bolted on the side - is the monument to Viscount Rowland Hill.

Now it's not as big as Nelson's Column. It just looks that way. And at least Nelson was famous and the surrounding buildings in Trafalgar Square are in proportion with his column. Hill was a sidekick of Wellington's and fought with him at Waterloo, did various other military things and ended up in charge of the British Army compliments of his old mate Wellington who by then had become Prime Minister. That's about it - in particular he's not the bloke who invented the postage stamp although I assume they were related.

As a monument it is just completely over the top. I wouldn't pull it down, though. It's so over the top it's quite entertaining.

On a completely different subject, I'm still just about resisting putting up the Ponting spitting blood pic. Here is Phil Tufnell - to be on Strictly Come Dancing - it has just been announced (almost but still not enough to make me watch it) together with the Wooden Urns and his Ashes Song. Daft or what? It's something to do with Marmite - can't stand the muck personally

The ashes

Came home.

strange but true and lookalike...

Corpulent persons are being specially catered - if that's the right word - for on Brazilian trains by the installation of special chairs for local salad dodgers. The chairs (see above) are nearly twice as wide as normal chairs and can support a person weighing up to 550lbs and still not buckle under the weight. Above each supersized seat is an icon of a differently slim person and the legend 'priority seat for obese people'. Apparently takeup is disappointing as it is thought the punters are too embarrassed to use them.

Nick Griffin of the BNP is undoubtedly a horrible fat slug. Has anyone noticed the resemblance between him and Danny De Vito as 'Penguin' in Batman Returns? (Griffin is the one on the left)

Tiny Terrorists...

I report without further comment that the Metropolitan Police have used the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000 to stop and search 58 children aged 9 or under (and therefore below the age of criminal responsibility). There is no need for reasonable suspicion before effecting a stop and search under the Act. Breaking another promise not to comment further, so far as I am aware, terrorism among the under tens is not a major problem. The painting is 'and when did you last see your father?' by W.F. Yeames, a nineteenth century imagining of a fictional Civil War event.

And below for no other reason than it came to mind and still amuses me hugely is Alexei Sayle's Hello John got a new motor?

Killer on the loose...

The person above is Justice Sharon Keller - commonly and appropriately known as 'Killer' - of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Our heroine is in a spot of bother. I have blogged on the death penalty and Texas before here but in a so far as I know unique development, Killer is on trial herself! She closed her court before a death row inmate could file an appeal and is presently otherwise engaged on an ethics trial and faces five counts of judicial misconduct.

The case turns on the execution of a man of a convicted rapist and murderer named Michael Richard. The execution was set for the 25th September 2007 but on the morning of the same US supreme court had agreed to rule on whether execution by lethal injection - the case was an appeal from Kentucky but the same method was used in Texas - amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Not surprisingly in this context Richards' lawyers got busy in drafting an application for a stay but hit computer problems. They contacted Keller, who had by then headed off home to deal with a worker doing some repairs to her house (plainly hugely more important than life and death and constitutional rights and suchlike). At 4.45pm, they requested a postponement of the execution and received the reply from Killer 'we close at five'. Richards was executed later that evening and of course uproar ensued. She now faces charges including denying the rights of a condemned man and is the highest-ranking judge to face misconduct proceedings. I will leave to the reader's imagination whether or not I wish her well but will leave a couple of clues.

A previous gem from Killer was when she attracted a certain amount of oppobrium by denying a man with learning difficulties a retrial despite DNA evidence that appeared to prove his innocence.

Classy.

Oh and all is not well on the personal probity front either. Killer is in a spot of bother for failing to disclose all of her real estate holdings as required. This was unintentional and not an attempt to hide assets, her attorney (plainly a busy man) helpfully explained. It quite slipped her mind or something to disclose at least seven properties valued at $1.9 million. I wonder if any of them had a duck house or a moat.

There are moves afoot to impeach this charmer. Wonder why?

This one is doing the rounds...

It's very tiresome for a squirrel when a couple of humans try to muscle in on its holiday snaps, I'm sure you'll agree.

Pic originating in Canada and now all over everywhere like a rash.

Mr Fitzpatrick doth protest too much

The glum looking fellow above is Jim Fitzpatrick, Labour MP for Canning Town and Poplar. Apparently his constituency is 35% Muslim. Mr Fitzpatrick has caused a bit of a stink as a result of his well publicised walkout (or in Daily Mail speak - storming out) from a Muslim wedding. How so?

Our man and his wife were invited to the wedding of two of his constituents at the London Muslim Centre, a part of the East London Mosque. Having discovered that they would have to sit in seperate 'halls' (so far as I can follow one is the upstairs bit and one is the downstairs bit) Fitzpatrick and lady wife were offskies. Fitzpatrick announced 'we left so as not to cause offence'.

Huh?

Now I'm wholly unenthusiastic to say the least at the idea of gender segregation at this sort of event. But plainly the happy couple were not of this view and there ya go. It was their day and not Mr and Mrs Fitzpatrick's. Would Mr Fitzpatrick insist on sitting with his wife in an orthodox synagogue and storm out following the inevitable refusal? Somehow I don't think so.

And then suddenly the walkout is all over the media like a rash. Again, how so? Who put the story in the public arena? If it was Fitzpatrick, then he is behaving arrogantly and boorishly and one must ask to what end. Presumably he and his wife were invited to the wedding in good faith by people not in the public eye. It seems a little surprising that at least the possibility that there would be segregation by gender had not occurred to them. If Fitzpatrick went bleating to the media and turned the walkout into a media stunt, then he is an odious little squirt. If, finding himself apparently facing 'Gorgeous' George Galloway at the next election and I daresay having squeaky bum time at the prospect he was pandering to the white working class vote in this episode, then he is worse than merely an odious little squirt.

Googling reveals that there is another Jim Fitzpatrick, an Irish artist. Here is an example of his work.

Silly but...

In praise of Shorpy...

Just a very short posting in praise of Shorpy (link to left). It's basically an online collection of old photographs. It's absolutely fascinating and with a large number of contributors there is nearly always something new. The above is 'teen dance party 1950s' but the photos - which appear to be pretty much all American - go way back deep into the nineteenth century. And the name? The blog is a kind of virtual memorial for child miner from Alabama with the wonderful name of Shorpy Higginbotham who was photographed in 1910 by a man - I don't know if he was a professional photographer or enthusiastic amateur - named Lewis Wickes Hine. There was no happy ending for the Shorpy story. He was killed in a mine collapse in January 1928 aged 31. Shorpy had married the previous November and became the posthumous father of a boy in the summer of 1928. His now very elderly son has been located but didn't want to talk. Here is Shorpy at the front with his pals. Have a look at the blog. It's well worth it. The collection of old posters is a cracker too!
Talking of very old things, should Mark Ramprakash be recalled after 7 years absence for the Ashes decider? My heart says 'yes', my head says 'no'.

An elderly gent...

Totally without comment and carwash...

Okay people, time for a silly season story! Tesco are to start selling a range of extra large condoms following 'overwhelming customer demand'. It turns out that the average condom is 205 mm long. In imperial terms this amounts to 8.0708661417 inches in case anyone was wondering. The extra large condoms are 10 mm longer and 1 mm erm - wider. Nicola Evans, healthcare buyer for the retailer, said: "These new condoms are designed to allow larger men more comfort than ever before".

Which is nice.

"In the last year there have been more than 200 calls from customers requesting the availability of an extra large condom" added Ms Evans, warming to her theme.

Quite so.

I said I wouldn't comment but can't resist saying 1 mm wider hardly helps, does it? £9.53 for a packet of 12 should you be wondering.

Fat tip (snuck) to Siberian Light for Stalin condom pic -

http://www.siberianlight.net/

Plus some helpful stuff on how to wash your car (complete with rude French word)