Long Live The Mr. Men.

The Mr. Men are well known by kids all around the world and they have long been established as a defining moment in children’s literature. Even most adults can tell you exactly what Mr. Mean, Mr. Messy or Mr. Greedy look like. Since their creation in 1971, the Mr. Men books have become enormously popular and children still love the stories just as much today.

There is a truly magical element to these peculiar characters. When Roger Hargreaves first came Full Story »

Lesson In Drawing

Why is it that people give up on their art after leaving school? Probably it’s because most of the population think they can’t paint, and don’t want to try for fear of what they produce being rubbish. But drawing is a very fun and rewarding thing to do with your time; more importantly if you can learn to draw then it won’t be so embarrassing when your children ask you to help them with their art home-work!

Here are a Full Story »

What I’d Do

During my twenty nine years on this great planet Earth I’ve decided upon a great many things I’d do if I ruled the world; until now, however, I’ve never sat down and actually put any of them down. But looking at the economic climate—not to mention Global Warming, drought, famine, general misplacement of good energy and ability for mankind to turn pretty much any situation into a nightmarish catastrophe—I can’t help but think I might be doing humanity a favor Full Story »

The Black And White World Of Aubrey Beardsley.

One of my favourite illustrators of all time has to be Aubrey Beardsley. The amount of work that he managed to create within the six years of his professional career is astonishing. He was only twenty-five years old when he died from Tuberculosis in 1898.

But he was not only a prolific artist; he was also an incredibly talented one. He had the ability to draw something and leave it to the audience to add the finer details with their Full Story »

Chris Ofili At Tate Britain

A major new exhibition at Tate Britain, starting on 27th January and running until 16th May, will give a fascinating opportunity to see the spectacular, moving and sometimes controversial work of Turner prize winning artist Chris Ofili.

Ofili stands out amongst the Modern British Artist movement in making his Nigerian roots central to his depiction of modern England. There is a remarkable vibrancy to his work, conveyed through the use of vivid colours and unusual materials, that fuses traditional aesthetic Full Story »

A Return To ‘The Crusades’?

We are in the midst of a very turbulent time. Not only are there fears of how good our security is at airports but there is also the highly volatile situation of Muslim relations to think about.

Only a fool would think that all Muslims are terrorists. There are only a small amount of extremists who are causing this terrible situation around us all. Unfortunately, there are many fools in the world… There have already been quite a few unprovoked Full Story »

Trouble At The Beeb.

Hooray! I was beginning to think that it was only me who was convinced that the BBC had totally lost its way. Finding out that someone such as P.D.James has got a few things to say on the matter was a very pleasant surprise.

I wonder if the big guns at Broadcasting House will actually take any notice or not? Hearing common old garden viewers bitch about the poor quality of programmes is one thing, but when someone with a bit more clout has something to say it is a very different matter indeed…

So just what is it that has gone so wrong at the Beeb? Their schedules really do appear to be going from bad to worse and it seems that precious little is being done about it.

I suppose that the downward slope began after the golden days of the sixties and seventies. The nineteen-eighties seemed to herald a new generation of inferior programmes, but even then there were still a few very good ones to watch. These days it is common to hear people complaining about the lack of decent shows on the BBC. Saturday night used to be a treat for programmes but now it is often even worse than weekdays.

At one time (albeit a long way back in the past) the BBC was the world leader in quality programmes. How the mighty have fallen. Is it any wonder that there are still thousands of people each year who are caught for watching television without a licence? To rub salt into the wound, the Beeb appears to be channelling licence fees into the pockets of its directors rather than improving its impoverished broadcasting schedules.

Bring back good dramas and comedians who were actually funny! Perhaps the BBC should allow smaller budgets for its programmes and rely more on the quality of their actors. Dr. Who never used to cost the ludicrous amount that it now does for each episode. It may all have been crisp boxes that had been spray-painted in silver but it still managed to scare the pants off of its viewers.

On a completely different note: Pauline just got a really great new gig doing artwork for a company that does Bespoke Packaging Boxes, even after the insane year we have had! Lucky!

Get Real.

Hmmm. I’ve just finished reading this post called, ‘Using Your Thoughts to Shape Your Future’ and I am afraid I’m not convinced.

If people can get what they wanted simply by visualising it on a regular basis then most men would be driving around in sports cars with a wife who had the looks of a supermodel. The streets would be littered with the corpses of tax men and traffic wardens, whilst no-one’s bank balance would be lower than twelve Full Story »

No Smoke Without Fire.

Smokers really do seem to be getting some rough treatment these days. Everywhere you go, you see them standing outside because they are banned from all public places.

I don’t smoke and I know that it is bad for you but it seems as if the law has gone a bit over the top to me. People seem to have no respect for you these days if you choose to smoke.

Perhaps it is the government’s way of punishing smokers Full Story »

Keep on Running.

The post on this blog has got a really good selection of running clothes along with some other interesting bits and pieces. There are not only shorts and tops, but also socks and hats with two separate sections for men and women. If you are looking for a new pair of running shoes, then this is a good place for you to start.

What caught my eye was the great range of accessories that they have. There are watches, Full Story »