The Independent on Sunday has a brief new interview with Bruce Robinson today, which you can (and should) read in full here.
In it, he confirms that his decades-in-the-writing non-fiction book about Jack the Ripper is finally being published, this September. You can pre-order it here. You can read more about the project, and SPOILERS a *possible* candidate for the person Robinson is going to unveil as the Ripper, in my previous blog entry here(which is one of the most-read posts this website has ever published...).
Bruce sounds on good form, and gives good quote, as always. The author of the piece mentions that the Robinson household is hard to find nestling in its remote valley in the Wales borders, but that doesn't seem to have put off hardcore fans making a pilgrimage. Bruce says:
“I found a guy drinking my vintage port in the kitchen at 7am a few days ago. This guy put down a whole bottle of port, ate a bowl of cornflakes and fucked off. I still don’t know who he was.”
Just a quick one (while a longer post on another topic is being prepared), but I think it's worth recording that TV phenomenon du jour Game of Thrones included what has to be a sly shout-out to Withnail and I last week (season 5, episode 7: 'The Gift').
In a delicious scene between Jonathan Pryce, as the 'High Sparrow' and Diana Rigg, having a whale of a time as Olenna 'Queen of Thorns' Tyrell, Dame Diana comes out with the line:
"You live among murderers, thieves and rapists, and yet you punish Loras for shagging some perfumed ponce?"
Perfumed ponce, eh? I think we can safely put down David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, show runners of Game of Thrones and writers of this particular episode, as Withnail fans...
May 19th is the 80th anniversary of the death of T. E. Lawrence of Arabia. His fateful motorcycle crash was actually six days earlier, putting him in a coma from which he never recovered. (If he'd been wearing a crash helmet, he probably would have walked away from the accident, but that's another story.)
To mark the occasion, I thought I'd spotlight a little piece of history which has been sitting quietly in the Little Shop since it opened...
It doesn't look like much, but it's connected to this...
Blowing up a train on the Hejaz railway, David Lean style.
A recent photo of the remains of an actual train, blown up by the actual T. E. Lawrence.
The unassuming bookend features a piece of the railway track that was blown up by Lawrence and his Arab guerrillas.
The inscription reads:
'A sectios [sic] of railroad track destroyed by Lawrence of Arabia to prevent the Turkish forces from controlling the Arabian Peninsular, 1917. Recovered by Boy Scouts of America, Red Sea Troop 1, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 1970.'
I bought it a few years ago, and while it didn't come with any solid provenance, I've no reason to doubt that it's the real McCoy. It's obviously got some age to it, and it would be a strange, not particularly obvious, and rather time-consuming thing to fake. There's also this learned articleabout the chemical composition of the Hejaz railway tracks of the time, which features a cross section photo which matches the piece on the bookend:
Boy Scouts or not, I imagine it would by frowned upon these days to go around nicking bits of the remaining track, not least because there is ongoing archaeological research into the period, headed by GARP (the Great Arab Revolt Project). You can find out more about them here.
As Lawrenciana goes, it's an interesting and presumably unique piece, but who knows what its value would be. Whatever the right collector is willing to pay for it I suppose.
I like it too much to sell it though.
2017UPDATE: This link to the National Trust's collection of item's at Lawrence's cottage Cloud's Hill features a familiar-looking object... more proof that this piece is the real McCoy...
I'm out and about dahn Sarf this week and into next, so here by way of a blog is a plug for a rather special upcoming event in Croglin, the little Cumbrian village where I live (when I'm not in the Little Shop...).
Mary Ware’s Legacy in Watercolour
Croglin village hall to host sale of original art and Sunday afternoon tea in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
On Sunday 17 May 2015, Croglin village hall will throw open its doors to visitors from far and wide for a sale of beautiful original works by artist J (Jean) Mary Ware, accompanied by a delicious afternoon tea.
Though she had sketched throughout her life, Mary Ware (1915-2012) only really began to pursue her art once she entered her 70s, making both the quality and proliferation of her work all the more astounding. With an eye for finding beauty and interest in everything, Mary’s subjects range from stunning Lakeland landscapes and the tranquillity of beach scenes to the minute detail of wild flowers and the intricate elegance of architecture. As local artist Madge Shaw says, ‘Mary’s legacy in watercolour is a delight for us all to share.’
In this, her centenary year, many of Mary’s previously unseen original pieces will be offered for sale at the event. There will also be a raffle for an individual piece of framed artwork, as well as the opportunity to buy greetings cards featuring Mary’s artwork and an indulgent afternoon tea as provided by the local residents. All proceeds from the event will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust to aid the continuing battle against a disease suffered by Mary’s beloved granddaughter, Alena.
The village of Croglin – once the site of an ancient Viking settlement – is no more than five miles from Kirkoswald beside the Eden river, yet is so tucked away in the foothills of the Pennines that visitors rarely find their way to its unspoiled environs. Featuring a church sketched by Alfred Wainwright MBE and lending its name to a waterfall immortalised in poetry by William Wordsworth, it is the perfect destination for a Sunday afternoon drive and stop for tea – combined, perhaps, with the moderate circular walk on the fell above the village to take in the magnificent vista of the Eden Valley and the well-preserved remains of the village’s lime kilns.
·17 May 2015, 2pm-4pm
·Croglin village hall – CA4 9RZ
·Art sale and afternoon tea in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust
He's not been mentioned here for a little while, but longtime readers of this blog will know of the enthusiasm round these parts for the work of H. H. Munro, better known by his pen name Saki, who wrote brilliantly comic short stories where genteel society collided with often chaotic, sometimes even supernatural elements.
That admiring forewords to collections of his work have been written by everyone from A.A. Milne and Noel Coward to Will Self and The League of Gentlemen's Jeremy Dyson is proof enough of his influence on a wide selection of British writers since his untimely death on a WW1 battlefield in 1916.
He's not exactly a household name though, due in part perhaps to his stories never having made a successful jump to the great populariser of the 20th century, television. (Would P.G. Wodehouse still be quite as popular today without the efforts of Fry and Laurie? Discuss.)
That's not to say Saki has never been adapted for the screen though, far from it. Below is quick romp through some YouTube links which will prove of great interest to Saki Fanciers.
First up is a programme which has only recently (February 2015) been posted online, and what a treat it is. In 1962, Granada broadcast an 8-part series called Saki: The Improper Stories of H. H. Munro. I knew of this production's existence, but had long given up hope of seeing any of it. It's a no-frills, studio-based affair, which would have been performed pretty much as live (if not *actually* live), but with cast members including the great Richard Vernon and Fenella Fielding at the top of their game, it's a pleasure to watch.
Fast-forwarding several decades and spinning to the other side of the Earth, here are two Indian adaptations of the same short story, 'Dusk'. Perhaps there was an 'Adapt Dusk' competition, or it was set as homework at film school or something...
Here's another pair of takes on a story, this time 'The Interlopers', one of Saki's bleakest tales. The second is somewhat more polished than the first...
... and for good measure, here's a puppet version...
'The Open Window' is deservedly one of Saki's best-known and most anthologised tales, so to finish off, two versions of it: the first is a 1980s version from Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the second a quite wonderful short film adaptation (retitled 'The Open Doors') from 2004, starring a pitch-perfect Michael Sheen. (Has Sheen ever not been pitch perfect in anything?) If you only watch one link on this post, watch this one. It's brilliant.
In 1988, a bunch of UK comics creators, financed by money from the Astor family, launched Deadline onto an unsuspecting world. Best remembered these days as the birthplace of Tank Girl, it mixed comics with interviews and features in a way that many have tried to imitate (Titan's Clint being a recent example) but few have equalled. Deadline lasted until 1995, by which time, as the magazine's Wikipedia entry points out:
"the crossing over of the alternative scene into the mainstream (around the time of Britpop, a movement it had helped to champion) saw the magazine eventually fold at the end of 1995."
And yes, the utter failure of the Tank Girl movie didn't help, either.
Back in 1988 though, the creative crew did several signings to promote the first issue, which presumably is where this copy was adorned with the various signatures and sketches on its back cover. The boot was printed, everything else was added...
Nothing less than an original Tank Girl sketch by Jamie Hewlett. Considering a page of TG art recently sold on eBay for over a grand, this has to add somewhat to the mag's original £1.50 price tag...
A characteristic sketch from Steve Dillon, who always seems to work pints of the good stuff into comics he draws (see Hellblazer and Preacher for ample proof).
A 'logo' and sketch presumably by Nick Abadzis, whose excellent Hugo Tate strip featured in the first issue.
Signatures of the late, lamented Brett Ewins, and Michael Bonner.
The first bit looks like it could be 'Julie', which would make it Julie Hollings, writer/artist of the strip Beryl the Bitch. Not sure what the second bit is.
No doubts here though.
This one has stumped everyone I've asked, including some leading lights of the UK comics industry. Peter Milligan, possibly?
Unlike the magazine above, the following isn't for sale from the Little Shop (sadly!): this thread on singletrackworld.com features another product of a signing session from the time, a jacket belonging to one 'CountZero', which ain't ever going to see the inside of a Dry Cleaners...
A gallery of wonderful art deco images from an 86 year old periodical this week.
Copies of Advertising Display Magazine are rare as hen's teeth these days, it appears. The generic title doesn't help when googling, but I can find no copies whatsoever for sale online, and only a couple of hits even confirming the title's existence (the cover of a later issue on pinterest here and another copy held in the collection of a design museum here).
The copy which has arrived in the Little Shop is from May 1929. It's a trade publication, essentially advertising ways to advertise. There are articles on shop displays, some examples of printing processes, and even some paper samples bound in at the back. The visuals are mouthwatering, if you like a bit of 1920s style. Here's a selection of pages, including a photo of some Austrian caricature statuettes of film stars, including Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton, which I imagine would go for very serious money if any ever surfaced today... Mind you, as a piece of deco design and advertising history, the magazine itself is far from worthless! (Yes, I'm open to offers...)
