My friend Tony was a habitué of Pound Stores and, when abroad, always kept a eye open for products with unlikely names or quirky examples of mis-translation...
Here's a bottle cap-remover (or decapsulador uña) purchased in Spain which, on the face of it, looks pretty ordinary...
However, Tony's reason for purchasing it becomes clear when you take a closer look at the English translation for decapsulador uña...
And, talking of cats, don't forget there's only one more day before the closing date for entries to the current...
The name of Oliver Martin Johnston Jr may not instantly ring a bell, but for cartoon buffs it is one of the revered names in the annals of animation. Oliver 'Ollie' Johnston, who died yesterday at the age of 95, was one of the great Disney animators whose artistry-in-motion contributed to what is often - and rightly - referred to as 'The Golden Age of Animation'.
Ollie was the last survivor of a group known as 'The Nine Old Men': a phrase coined by Walt Disney to describe some of his most trusted and long-serving artists. It was a jesting reference to Franklin D Roosevelt's description of the nine judges of the US Supreme Court - although, at the time Disney gave the group that moniker, they were still only in their thirties and forties.
Yet they grew into their title, becoming the masters of the craft of bringing inanimate drawings to life and, in process, raising a once-crude, knock-about entertainment into a true 20th century art form.
Ollie and the others - each a legendary talent in his own right - contributed to all of Disney's classic animated features beginning with the first, groundbreaking venture that, in 1937, took the world by storm, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Forty years later, several of them were still making Disney magic long after magician himself was gone in films such as The Aristocats, Robin Hood and The Rescuers.
Among the films on which Ollie worked were Pinocchio (he animated the scene where Pinocchio's nose grows and grows as tells the Blue Fairy bigger and bigger fibs) and Bambi to which he contributed a couple of memorable sequences: one was that moment of brilliantly-observed child observation when, prompted by his mother, Thumper the rabbit recites his lesson about the importance of eating clover greens - "Eating greens is a special treat, It makes long ears and great big feet. But it sure is awful stuff to eat." I made that last part up myself!; the other is the scene in which when the young deer watches his father, the Great Prince of the Forest, pass by him on the Meadow and acknowledge their kinship...
Ollie's animation helped give life to Alice on her perpetually puzzling wanderings through Wonderland, the fumbling-bumbling Mr Smee in Peter Pan, the three good fairies - Flora, Fauna and Merriweather - in Sleeping Beauty, Pongo and Perdita in 101 Dalmatians and Mowgli and Baloo in The Jungle Book; not to mention the troupe of penguin-waiters who serve Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke on their 'Jolly Holiday' romp in Mary Poppins.
One of Ollie's last creations was Rufus, the orphanage cat (right), in The Rescuers who with his moustache and glasses bore an uncanny resemblance to his creator!
Ollie was a humble, modest man - respected by his peers and loved and animators and admirers of animation - and if I were to single out a specific characteristic to describe his talents, it would be that he gave his creations humanity. He was able to capture - in that most elusive medium, the moving drawing - joy and sadness, loneliness and grief and, above all, vulnerability. He had an actor's understanding of character and made us care about people and animals that existed only as pencil lines on paper and evoked emotions that moved us to laughter and tears with nothing more than ink and paint on celluloid.
Many of Ollie's finest assignments were made in collaboration with his close friend and fellow animator (and another of the 'Nine'), Frank Thomas. 'Frank and Ollie', as they were always known, shared their passion for the art of animation as well as much of their lives - living in adjacent houses with their respective wives, Marie and Jeanette: a lovable quartet, whose company - for those of us privileged to know them - was always a delight.
We met in the UK whenever they visited this side of the pond and at one or other of their Flintridge homes whenever I was in LA. They talked Disney and animation for my colleague, Richard Hollis, and myself when we were researching our books about the Disney studio, Mickey Mouse and Snow White and they enthused endlessly about the same subjects when I got the opportunity to interview them at London's National Film Theatre and (on several occasions) for various BBC radio programmes.
Then, of course, there were other times when we just talked!
Their annual Christmas cards always arrived within a day or two of one another's (they could sensible have shared an envelope and saved the postage!) and their seasonal greetings - often embellished with personal caricatures - always sat side by side on the same bookshelf or mantelpiece...
Today, I'm wearing a Mickey Mouse paisley tie they once gave me - just because it seems like a nice way to remember them...
After their retirement from the Disney studio in 1978, Ollie and Frank co-authored four books: Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life - the veritable 'Bible' on Disney animation techniques - Too Funny for Words, Walt Disney's Bambi: The Story and the Film and The Disney Villain.
These books - a mine of fascinating reading for the Disney-fan, an indispensable handbook for the artist - were as much a part of their legacy as the films to which they (and their seven celebrated colleagues, Les Clark, Marc Davis, Ward Kimball, Milt Kahl, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery and Wolfgang Reitherman) contributed: a way of passing on their hard-earned knowledge and skills to inspire new generations of animators.
The Johnston-Thomas partnership was also the subject of a lovingly-crafted documentary film, Frank and Ollie, made in 1995 that provided a brilliant insight into Disney's Golden Age, the art and craft of animation, and the personal lives of these two great men - including Ollie's long and passionate love-affair with steam locomotion that led him to build a 1" scale backyard railway with 1/12th scale engines.
It was a project that would, in turn, inspire his boss, Walt Disney, to embark on a similar venture and which, thus, led to the creation of the Disneyland Railroad which carried visitor around the perimeter of the famous theme-park.
Frank and Ollie remains a touching memorial to their individual and collective talents and their friendship, but they also became the subject of various film homages: immortalised as 'Dr Frankenollie' by animation director, Chris Bailey, in the 1995 Mickey Mouse short, Runaway Brain;and, later, by Pixar director Brad Bird, who included digital caricatures of the duo in the closing sequences of his film The Incredibles - for which, naturally, they provided their own voices!
Frank Thomas died in 2004, aged 92, and Ollie's wife, Marie, died the following year. Bereft of his two lifetime companions, Ollie soldiered on and, as the final survivor of Walt's core creative team, was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Bush in November 2005.
It is impossible not to see Ollie's death as the final passing of a epoch in popular art and cinema the like of which we will probably never see again...
Speaking of the characters he had brought to life, Ollie once said: "They were all good friends, whom I remember fondly."
Perhaps that is why wealso remember them so fondly...
Our friend Sophie was having a bit of a clear out the other week, prior to major building work being undertaken on her house.
In the process of the purge, various knick-knacks and gee-gaws that had entered the category of 'clutter' were being tossed into the waiting maw of a Black Rubbish Sack. And among the casualties were three little kittens! True, they were made of wood, but even so... It was just too inhuman to contemplate. So, obviously, I was forced to save them and give them shelter.
So, here they are, sitting on the fence, and inviting you to enter our latest...
CA(P)TION COM-PET-ITION
Send us your ideas of Which Cat is saying What to Who? Deadline for entries: Friday 18th April.
As a teenager in the 'sixties, I remember the era of 'happenings' and I'm really glad that, forty years on, groups of people are still getting together to stage eccentric events that make people stop, look, smile, laugh, tut, curse and shake their heads...
This particular experiment in mass improvisation is something more: it is a piece of theatre, a momentary work of art, pure poetry in motion --- or, rather, absence of motion...
Google sent me a note the other day telling me that I was in bad odor...
As it turned out, it wasn't me, but yet another of my several doppelgängers around the world...
Foul smell will cease, Sibley says Company begins phasing out chemical that causes stench
BELLINGHAM — The odor that has disturbed Roosevelt and Sunnyland residents should abate by early next week, now that Brooks Manufacturing Co. has agreed to phase out use of an offending chemical...
Brooks spokesman Brian Sibley said the company expects to make the switch by Monday, acting on its own initiative."We have identified a solvent," Sibley said, "that we believe will accomplish the same task with substantially less odor."The odor came from one of the ingredients - aliphatic esters.
The esters are part of a mix of chemicals that Brooks uses to treat lumber at its plant at 2120 Pacific St.Sibley said the change in the process won’t disrupt production."We’re very committed to solving this problem and to continue to be a good neighbor," Sibley said.
After reading that, my life seems positively fragrant!
One of the joys of living in South London is being surrounded - immersed - in cultural diversity. For example, there can't be many parts of the UK where it is possible to buy...
...a RASTAFARIAN broom!
Incidentally, the significance of the Rastafarian colours are as follows:
RED symbolizes the blood of those killed for the cause of the black community, throughout Jamaican history
GREEN represents Jamaica's vegetation and hope for the eradication of suppression
GOLD signifies the wealth of Ethiopia
BLACK is often added to denote the colour of the Africans who initiated Rastafari
I have just spent three days in hospital in a ward where it was hotter than a Swedish sauna - though, obviously, without the sex! Radiators too scalding to touch were pumping heat into a room that throbbed like the core of nuclear reactor and with the windows pushed open to the maximum-allowed aperture of two inches in a vain attempt to let some of it out into the already overburdened atmosphere.
Now, I'm back home in our refreshingly uncentrally-heated flat and - guess what? - outside its snowing a blizzard!
The world is truly losing its grip! And to make matters worse - very bad news for a Sunday morning, this - I have to tell you---
GOD is DEAD...
...or, at least, His Official Spokesman is silenced
CHARLTON HESTON
1923-2008
***
Of course, Charlton ('Chuck') Heston didn't just represent God, hewas also the quintessential Hollywood representation of what it means to be an American.
As PAULINE KAEL, the legendary film critic of The New Yorker once wrote: "With his perfect, lean-hipped, powerful body, Heston is a god-like hero; built for strength, he is an archetype of what makes Americans win. He represents American power - and he has the profile of an eagle."
I intend to make none of my usual half-hearted apologies for today's post, since I am (a) bringing information of vital importance to my readers, and (b) quoting that widely-read and much-respected journal...
Which? have been looking into pants following the uncovering of that brief complaint by TV'sJeremy Paxman.
What's come out in the wash is that tests uphold M&S, but (or butt) do nothing to support the reputation of Calvin Klein whose pants are four times as expensive as Marks & Sparks and yet, apparently, are, well, pants!
In case it slipped by you, here's the low-down...
M&S pants top our briefs encounter
But Calvin Klein bottom in Which? test
Which? has rigorously tested some of the UK’s most popular men's underwear following TV presenter Jeremy Paxman’s much publicised gripe over Marks & Spencer (M&S) pants.The Newsnight host hit the headlines when he complained that M&S pants no longer provided ‘adequate support’.So Which? decided to pitch M&S against Tesco, Asda and designer brand Calvin Klein.We found that Calvin Klein’s Body trunks came out badly for pilling (bobbling), despite costing £20 a pair - while Asda’s, costing £1.75, were the least susceptible to this.
Fading and shrinking
Our scientists washed and tumble-dried the pants to see whether they kept their shape and colour.M&S pants, at £5 a pair, kept their colour the best after ten washes while Asda’s and Calvin Klein’s faded the most.The M&S trunks didn’t shrink too badly, but Calvin Klein’s shrank a lot in parts – particularly in the leg.However, Calvin Klein might pass the Paxman test for ‘gusset anxiety’, as the Tesco and Asda gussets shrank the most.
Gusset anxiety
Overall, Calvin Klein was ranked lowest, while M&S came out top.Despite this, an industry insider, told us: 'There’s a trend across industry for cheaper cotton, so I can understand how Jeremy feels.’
It's obvious from these findings why CK have to employ so many skimpily-clad models (see gratuitous illustration below) in order to sell their fast-fade, quick-shrink skivies...
I suppose this is one way of getting people with a horror of heights to take a turn on the London Eye, but what really intrigues me is just how this photo was taken...
I mean, did the ten lads queue up to buy their tickets dressed (or undressed) like this, or is there a great pile of jeans, t-shirts, socks and shoes on the other side of the pod? And were they already kitted out with their CKsbefore getting on the Eye or did they have to change out of their M&S knickers on the way up?
And, supposing the photograph was taken when the wheel was at the height of its revolution - and bearing in mind how long photographers always take - did they have to rehearse much to find out how long it would take getting it off and getting it on again?
Not only that, but how many people are actually in that pod? Well, obviously the ten models and the photographer (with lights and reflectors), but who else? CK's brand manager? The advertising agency's account manager? The artistic director? Plus, of course, assistants to all the aforementioned, wardrobe, hair and make-up and, doubtless, London Eye security staff...
I'm not sure that we haven't exposed some serious health and safety issues here...
Pointless trying to pull the wool over your eyes! Yes, yesterday was April 1st and - as you obviously all guessed - my story about seeing that 'falling boy' was nothing more than an All Fools Day hoax...
The photograph was, in fact, an odd angled snap of part of the sculpture known as 'Boy with a Dolphin' by the artist David Wynne, which - as Gill said - can be seen, just north of Albert Bridge, on Chelsea Embankment.
Here's what it looks like from a couple of different viewpoints...
Hopefully, you weren't taken in by any April Foolery yesterday, but if you were, then take comfort from - and enjoy some of - the wittiest and cheekiest pranks to be perpetrated on the 1st of April as selected by one of my favourite web-sites...
Here you will find no fewer than 100 All Fool's Day pranks and hoaxes, including such gems as whistling carrots that let you know when they are cooked, the Sydney Harbour Iceberg, Instant Colour Television, the Islands of San Serriffe, and plans for the M25 to become a one-way street, Big Ben to have a digital read-out and the relocation of the Eiffel Tower in what was then called EuroDisneyland.
But the Number 1, top-ranking April Fool Hoax was, apparently, BBC TV's celebrated Panorama programme report on The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest of 1957...
Read the full story of this brilliant, legendary spoof in this Museum of Hoaxes' article.
Wherever I go, nowadays, I carry my camera - just in case a photo opportunity arises that I would, for ever afterwards, be kicking myself for having missed.
For example, the other month, I saw a man waiting at the bus stop at the end of our road with a life-size stuffed toy tiger over his shoulders and I didn't have my camera. I dashed back home, grabbed the Panasonic and hurried back down the road, but the bus had obviously arrived and the hunter and his prey were nowhere to be seen.
So, now I have my camera at the ready and just the other day got an astonishing shot of an extraordinary scene that, bizarrely, I have not seen reported anywhere in the media.
I accept that what I am about to tell you, strains somewhat at credulity but walking down a deserted London street on a dark, stormy afternoon in London I glanced up suddenly and saw a naked youth in mid-air, looking as if he had leaped from one of the windows of the nearby building.
Admittedly the camera angle is skewed and the shot is extremely underexposed, but you will, at least, get a strong sense of what I saw.
What was so remarkable - miraculous even - was that despite having seemingly fallen in this dramatic way, the youth was quite unhurt and seemed less concerned by the experience than I was as an observer.
Being the only person around at the time, as soon as I had recovered from my shock, I made an attempt to speak with the young man, but he repeatedly declined to reply to my various questions. So, in default of discovering anything further on the subject, I am left with nothing other than an extraordinary photograph of an amazingly bizarre occurrence.
But it has, at least, confirmed me in my habit of carrying my camera at all times.
The name of Oliver Martin Johnston Jr may not instantly ring a bell, but for cartoon buffs it is one of the revered names in the annals of animation. Oliver 'Ollie' Johnston, who died yesterday at the age of 95, was one of the great Disney animators whose artistry-in-motion contributed to what is often - and rightly - referred to as 'The Golden Age of Animation'.
Ollie's animation helped give life to Alice on her perpetually puzzling wanderings through Wonderland, the fumbling-bumbling Mr Smee in Peter Pan, the three good fairies - Flora, Fauna and Merriweather - in Sleeping Beauty, Pongo and Perdita in 101 Dalmatians and Mowgli and Baloo in The Jungle Book; not to mention the troupe of penguin-waiters who serve Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke on their 'Jolly Holiday' romp in Mary Poppins.
Many of Ollie's finest assignments were made in collaboration with his close friend and fellow animator (and another of the 'Nine'), Frank Thomas. 'Frank and Ollie', as they were always known, shared their passion for the art of animation as well as much of their lives - living in adjacent houses with their respective wives, Marie and Jeanette: a lovable quartet, whose company - for those of us privileged to know them - was always a delight.
The Johnston-Thomas partnership was also the subject of a lovingly-crafted documentary film, Frank and Ollie, made in 1995 that provided a brilliant insight into Disney's Golden Age, the art and craft of animation, and the personal lives of these two great men - including Ollie's long and passionate love-affair with steam locomotion that led him to build a 1" scale backyard railway with 1/12th scale engines.
Speaking of the characters he had brought to life, Ollie once said: "They were all good friends, whom I remember fondly."
Pointless trying to pull the wool over your eyes! Yes, yesterday was April 1st and - as you obviously all guessed - my story about seeing that 'falling boy' was nothing more than an All Fools Day hoax...
Here you will find no fewer than 100 All Fool's Day pranks and hoaxes, including such gems as whistling carrots that let you know when they are cooked, the Sydney Harbour Iceberg, Instant Colour Television, the Islands of San Serriffe, and plans for the M25 to become a one-way street, Big Ben to have a digital read-out and the relocation of the Eiffel Tower in what was then called EuroDisneyland.
