Pictured, the comic character Plastic Man, who you may recognise from the cartoons which used to be shown on TV.
However, despite the fact that the glasses look kind of similar, am I alone in thinking that ‘Plastic Man’ may not have been the original name for this fancy dress costume?
The hair doesn’t match at all, and the overall look and pose makes me think it may actually have been intended to be someone else who recently died, and who was alleged to have had a fair amount of involvement with plastic in a more medical sense…
Presented for your delectation, though, some footage of the 22 July 2009 total eclipse of the sun, which Mrs MyWife and I saw on honeymoon last month. The footage was shot in Varanasi in India, on the banks of the River Ganges, and runs for just over a minute, with totality occuring about half-way through.
If you decide to watch it, you may well want to turn the volume down a bit, as the sounds of the crowd and the like are pretty loud. And also because this stupid-sounding chap keeps on talking during it, and making asinine remarks. Honestly, some people have no sense of occasion.
I shot this, on a small hand-held digital camera, so I apologise for the shakiness and slightly dodgy picture quality, and for the way it looks a bit grainy – probably avoidable if you’re some kind of expert in editing and formatting, but I’m still finding my way with this techie malarkey, so please indulge me.
Anyway, hope it’s of interest, and that the reaction of the crowd gives you a flavour of the atmosphere and general sense of excitement at seeing what is, I think it’s fair to say, something of a once-in-a-lifetime event.
If this embedding doesn’t work, I’ve also uploaded the video here by way of a backup, though you’ll need Windows Media Player to view it.
Whilst a lot of coverage of events in Scotland at this time of year focuses on the Edinburgh Fringe, it’s good to see that Auntie Beeb hasn’t forgotten that there are other places in Scotland.
By which I mean: the BBC Writersroom are holding a couple of their roadshow events in Scotland in September.
On Tuesday 1 September, they’re at the probably-not-named-after-the-film Tron Theatre in Glasgow, on Thursday 17 September they’ll be at the probably-not-named-after-the-computer Spectrum Theatre in Inverness, followed by the not-named-after-anything-I-can-think-of-to-allude-to Caird Hall in Dundee on Wednesday 14 October.
Oh, hang on, I’ve just realised that they’re scooting down to the Norwich Playhouse on Wednesday 6 October, which rather throws off the Scottish run of events, doesn’t it? Anyway, 75% Scottish is a good enough proportion to justify the overarching theme of this post, I think.
As is usual with these roadshows, folks from the Writersroom will be talking about what they look for in scripts and how they assess them, and you can save on postage costs by handing your script in to them in person, too.
Entry’s free, but you do need to get your name on the list so they’ll unclip the velvet rope and let you in, and you can find out how to do this (and all the other salient details) here.
So in one line, here’s how David Cameron can guarantee he becomes next Prime Minister:
Don’t let Tory MPs say anything about expenses or pay, whether they think it’s on the record or off the record.
In fact, if he just gags them all and concentrates on the party’s key attribute of ‘not being Labour’, I reckon they could get in.
Mind you, Alan Duncan has a very good point when he says that being an MP or in Parliament “has been nationalised”. I guess it’s something to do with being – in theory anyway – a servant of the people, and having your salary paid as a result of citizens being taxed. That is still part of the job description, right?
It’s a very strange and busy day, so I won’t linger long, but I wanted to share the following:
Mrs S and I are currently re-watching Prime Suspect, and it’s good to see that memory hasn’t amplified the programme’s quality, not time diminished it; it’s of a generally very high quality, and despite the length of the episodes, it’s good and pacey.
What I didn’t know, however, was that in 1980, Lynda la Plante, who created the show (as well as the frankly-not-good Killer Net, but let’s pretend that didn’t happen) appeared in Rentaghost as the character Tamara Novek.
Crikey. Definitely one for the ‘I had no idea’ file as far as I’m concerned.
I’ve often thought that John Higgins is a rather under-exposed comic writer and artist; not necessarily under-rated, as people who know of his work tend to admire it, but it’s not as if the release of a new item from him is likely to be made at the San Diego or Chicago conventions, which is a pity, as he’s a good solid artist (and a particularly skilled painter), and a friendly chap (I say this on the basis of having met John at a convention in about 1986, where my fanboy excitement meant I gabbled and talked nonsense, but he was very indulgent of my drivel).
Anyway, the first 22 pages of Razorjack, which he both wrote and drew, can now be seen for free online here – it’s a PDF file, so you’ll need to have appropriate PDF-reading software – and I think you’ll agree it’s worth a look.
This week, Marvel Comics have been celebrating their 70th Birthday – and good for them, I’ve often enjoyed their stuff, and they seem to have bounced back rather well after being declared bankrupt a few years ago.
That said, I do seem to remember an Anniversary back when I was a teenager – here’s the corner box from Marvel’s X-Men comic, issue 211 in 1986:
So, 1961 + 70 = 2009? Oh Marvel, I hope it’s not creative accounting that has helped you claim to have a healthier bank balance…
The latest post in this occasional series is swimming against the tide a bit, but still…
There really is no need for watches to be waterproof to hundreds of metres. I’m qualified to dive, but only to 30 metres, and yet there are many watches which are water resistant to depths of 200m or more.
An example: the Omega Seamaster Planet ocean is water resistant to 600m. The deepest recorded dive using scuba equipment is 330m, just over half that. By 200m, the penetration of light from the surface is pretty much gone, so you’ll need a torch to read your watch (it doesn’t seem to glow in the dark or have a light, but I may have missed that). Similarly, the Rolex Submariner (dial pictured) is water-resistant to 300m, which seems a bit unnecessary.
Yes, I know there’s a lot to admire about watches with the impressive build and reliability of Omega and Rolex, but this just seems excessive. I’m pretty certain there’s a middle ground to be struck between making something sturdy enough to survive the general bashes and splashes of everyday life (so: a watch that doesn’t scratch, and will withstand water if you go for a swim, a shower or do the washing-up) and building something to withstand events that very few people are actually likely to experience.
Then again, since many of these watches which are strangely water-resistant to the depth of the Mariana Trench are top-of-the-line models, maybe reducing the spec and reducing the price, even if it means increased sales, might work against the prestige aspect of the watches?
Hmm. Maybe it’s ‘intelligence’ in marketing terms at the expense of design intelligence, then.
Canary Wharf is in Docklands in the East of London, not far from Forest Gate, where I spotted this on the pavement the other night:
I’m not forgetting about the lasers and everything, but now I’ve seen one in real life, I think that they’re slightly less menacing. Forget firing paint onto their eyestalk, it looks as if putting a carrier bag over them might be enough to render them blind.
Then again, most people look taller on TV, don’t they? The Daleks’ agents must have demanded that they’re only shot from the most flattering of angles.
Pictured, the comic character Plastic Man, who you may recognise from the cartoons which used to be shown on TV.
