Chas & Dave split

One of Britain's longest running and best loved rock acts split up today after Dave announced his

retirement from Chas & Dave

The cockney duo had been playing together since 1972 and were responsible for classic tunes such as Rabbit, The Sideboard Song, Aint No Pleasing You and Snooker Loopy.

Now, just weeks after Oasis split, bassist Dave Peacock, 64, has announced his decision to retire from the music industry following the death of his wife Sue from lung cancer.

Although Chas & Dave went together like apples and pears, lead singer and pianist Chas Hodges today vowed to continue playing their hits under the new name of Chas And His Band.

Chas, 65, today said: "Obviously it's sad. It's the end of an era but the start of another one - the show goes on.

"I still see Dave every week and he's coping but I don't think he wanted to do the gigging any more.

"He has horses and he loves driving them round his grounds and painting gypsy wagons which he's very good at so I don't think he'll miss the gigging.

"Chas & Dave is a legendary name but I shall be taking over the gigs. I'll be doing the old songs as well as new ones and talking about Dave during the show."

The band's agent, Barry Collings, added: "Sadly Dave's beloved wife Sue passed away in July this year after over 30 years of blissful marriage.

"Understandably Dave has taken his loss very badly and he hasn't the heart to continue gigging and with regret he has decided to retire from the music business."

The duo, who pioneered the musical genre 'Rockney', had undergone a renaissance in recent years with bands such as The Libertines citing them as an influence.

Indeed, Chas & Dave supported the band during their London shows in 2003 and 2004 with Pete Doherty and Carl Barat joining them on stage for a few songs.

The band also played to a packed out tent at the Glastonbury festival in 2005.

Darren Juniper, the son of a school friend of Chas who introduced him to Dave years ago, is now standing in on bass. They have resisted the temptation to call themselves Chas and Daz.

The line up, completed by longtime drummer Mick Burt, will be continuing to fulfil all outstanding Chas & Dave engagements.

Chas will be performing all the Chas & Dave hits in the second half of the show including Margate, Gertcha and London Girls, along with some tracks from Chas's new solo album.

The first half of the show will now feature Chas's tribute to Rock 'n' Roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis and end with Rabbit to 'give the audience a taste of what's to come in the second half'.

Chas & Dave's debut album 'One Fing 'n' Anuvver' was released in 1975 earning critical acclaim from the likes of Radio One legend John Peel.

Featuring songs such as 'Ponders End Allotments Club' it had a strong North London angle and was acclaimed as the first example of cockney rock 'n' roll.

Their proudly cockney vocals led them to title their 1978 EMI album 'Rockney'.

Critics described the musical style of 'rockney', as 'pub singalong, music-hall humour, boogie-woogie piano and pre-Beatles rock 'n' roll'.

Gertcha was the first of their eight Top 40 hits in 1979 while Aint No Pleasing You reached number two in the singles chart in 1982.

Famously, the pair collaborated with Tottenham Hotspur FC on their legendary FA Cup Final songs in 1981, 1982 and 1987.

Their magnificent 'Ossie's Dream (Spurs Are On Their Way To Wembley)' b/w 'Glory Glory, Tottenham Hotspur' rose to number five in the charts in May 1981.

Chas & Dave are revered at Spurs and when Oasis singer Liam Gallagher was spotted at White Hart Lane for his club Manchester City's defeat last season, playful fans chanted: "You're just a shit Chas & Dave."

The band also contributed theme tunes for TV shows such as 'Crackerjack' and 'In Sickness & In Health'.

Contrary to urban myth, they did not do the Only Fools and Horses theme, turning the opportunity down because they were too busy.

Fan Justin Walker, 45, said: "It's a very sad day. Chas & Dave have been a British institution for 30 odd years and it's a great shame Dave will not be up on stage anymore.

"Of course the songs will always live on."

Sue Peacock died of lung cancer aged 63 on July 4 this year, despite never having smoked.

A tribute on the band's website: "Sue was quite simply a remarkable human being. Loved by anyone who was lucky enough to know her, she never had a negative point of view on anyone or anything.

"Sue and Chas' wife Joan were inseparable best friends, and she and Dave were godparents to Chas and Joan's children.

"Sue was instrumental behind the scenes for Chas and Dave, working tirelessly on the side of the business that musicians just aren't good at.

"It's accurate to say that without Sue and Joan, there wouldn't have been Chas and Dave."

How many Panda's can you see in this picture?

I found this!

How many Pandas can you see in this picture?

Son of Rambow on Blu Ray

Last night I watched Son of Rambow on Blu Ray. This is the 4th ever Blu ray I have ever watched on my system at home and I was impressed by the colours and clarity of a non CGI special effects movie. This is a real 'feel good movie' and very very funny in parts. There is a little CGI in it and it has many laugh out loud moments. There's a bit when the french guy shoots a bird with a bb gun and the bird then flies into shot and knocks one of the kids off a bike. It's difficult to put this film in a category but as an adult I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd recommend this one, 3 out of 5 from me.

Some more reviews and info below.

Writer-director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith, who as Hammer & Tongs have made music videos for such groups as Fatboy Slim, Supergrass, Blur, and REM, follow up their 2005 film, THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, with the charming indie SON OF RAMBOW, a love letter to the movies. A success at such festivals as Toronto and Sundance, SON OF RAMBOW stars Bill Milner as Will Proudfoot, a shy, reserved young boy who is different from the other kids because his family is part of the Brethren, a religion that shuns the outside world, not allowing him to have friends at school or to watch television. While in the hallway in school one day because he can't watch an educational film in class, Will gets into a fight with Lee Carter (Will Poulter), a tough kid who gets into trouble all the time. Lee forces Will to help him make a homemade version of the Sylvester Stallone film FIRST BLOOD, but after watching the original, Will is captivated by the movie and writes his own sequel, casting himself as the son of Rambow (he misspells the name of the character). Will and Lee use their imagination and lots of grit to get the project off the ground, bonding as only blood brothers can. But soon the entire school wants to participate in the movie, including ultra-cool French exchange student Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk), jeopardizing the integrity of the production as well as Will and Lee's growing friendship. Milner and Poulter, both making their feature-film debuts, are engaging as the lead characters. Jennings sets SON OF RAMBOW in the 1980s, before cell phones, digital cameras, and YouTube changed the way people communicate. Amid a soundtrack that includes music from such seminal period bands as The Cure and Depeche Mode, the two young boys learn about family and friendship, jealousy and ego as their carefully controlled worlds threaten to implode.

Son of Rambow

Charmingly subversive humour brings this whimsical childhood comedy to life, and makes it both more engaging and funnier than expected. It's a bright and very silly film with solid, provocative themes that really stick with us. Will (Milner) is a pre-teen in early 1980s Britain, living with his single mother (Stevenson) in a strict isolationist religious community, which leaves him on the fringe at school. A chance encounter with the class bully Carter (Poulter) changes everything, as Will's intense imagination is given an outlet in Carter's home-video movie project, a riff on Sylvester Stallone's 1982 franchise-spawning hit First Blood. But the production is invaded by the cool French exchange student (Sitruk) and his posse of fans, which strains Will's budding friendship with Carter. And there's also the matter of Will's furious church leaders. The film definitely has an autobiographical feel to it, catching tiny details of children whose personalities are just emerging, just as they begin to understand who their friends and family really are. The connections between the characters are powerfully well-defined, and beautifully played by the cast. Newcomers Milner and Poulter are terrific together as a memorable odd-couple movie team. And they get fine support from the adult actors, each of whom fills their scenes with realistic interaction, plus throwaway comedy gold. In fact, the entire film is an engaging mix of offbeat slapstick and truthful emotion. Jennings' script and direction are energetic and lively, stirring in superb visual effects that blend perfectly with the story and characters, often hand-drawn in the style of Will's doodles. The witty camera work and smart editing keep us both gripped to the story and constantly laughing both at the pointed jokes and goofy physicality. Even when things get serious or scary, the film keeps us in its grip. Jennings fills each scene with random gags and terrific period touches. This is an perceptive look at teenage antics, including telling examinations of peer pressure and personal insecurities masked by a thin veneer of bravado. But beyond all of this, the film is a celebration of imagination and creativity. Not just in children, but within all of us. Another review The most talked about film of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival finally makes it to UK screens this week, (with a limited release in the US pencilled in for May 2), and thank god, because this joyous, ridiculously heart-warming comedy deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. Set in England in the summer of '82, it tells the story of Will Proudfoot, an imaginative, artistic 11-year boy whose family are members of the Plymouth Brethren – a puritan style Christian groups that forbids members from watching TV or listening to music. Will leads a quiet existence until he runs into Jon Carter - the school tearaway - who shows him a pirated copy of the Rambo: First Blood. The movie blows Will's mind and he's easily persuaded to star as the 'stuntman' in Carter's low-budget sequel - Son of Rambow - which he's filming on his brother's camcorder. A combination of overactive imaginations and a lack of regard for basic safety lead to some spectacular footage, which soon attracts the attention of popular, wanna-be actor and French Exchange student Didier and his entourage, who try to muscle in on the film, which stretches the boys friendship to the limits. Like our first encounter with Die Hard With a Vengeance - which inspired IGN to re-enact the action scenes from the film for weeks - Son of Rambow perfectly captures that first inspirational acquaintance with film. Will, having seen First Blood for the first time, bounds out of his friend's house, charges into a field and imagines himself in the film, complete with explosions, machine gun fire and bulging muscles. It's a deliriously surreal, joyous sequence that every movie fan will identify with. The footage the scamps shoot is also hilarious - the boys attempt a series of insanely risky stunts involving trees, catapults, cars and, at one point, a plastic dog on a kite - with good-natured enthusiasm. These sequences – the best in the film – are dripping with witty and inventive visual touches that bring to mind director Jennings's previous effortThe Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, as well as Michel Gondry's recent Be Kind Rewind. Do not try this at home kids. It's the touching relationship between the kids that raises Son of Rambow far above the cocky, whimsical conceit of Gondry's work however. Brits Bill Milner (Will) and Will Poulter (Carter) are naturalistic, unaffected and while cute, they are never cutesy. At the start Carter basically bullies Will, but slowly and convincing they forge a friendship that is genuine, believable and touching. There are elements Jennings throws into the mix that don't work as well; Didier - the pretentious French exchange student - is fairly amusing but overused in the second half, whilst Carter's fractious relationship with his surly older brother is an emotional story arc that is undeveloped and feels unsatisfying. These less-successful strands distract slightly from the power of Son of Rambow, but nowhere near enough to scupper this fine little film. A paean to friendship, childhood and movies, you'd have to be a bigger cynic than Richard Dawkins not to have your cockles warmed by this gem.

Vantage Point on Blu Ray

Loved it, watched it fairly late. Only the 3rd film I've ever watched on Blu Ray, really enjoyed it. Some info and other reviews below about the movie. I'd recommend and give it a 3 out of 5.

Vantage Point, which aspires to be a cunningly twisted thriller, comes equipped with plenty of hurtling action, handheld camerawork, what-was-that? editing, and a plot that has multiple, contradictory agendas writhing like a nest of snakes. It's all set within a few blocks of a town square in Spain where a U.S. President is targeted for assassination. Although the movie lasts 90 minutes, the events it depicts are mostly over within fifteen minutes or so--but seen, rewound, and reseen from half a dozen different (you guessed it) vantage points. The first line in the credits reads "Original Film," apparently the name of the production company. "Gimmick Movie" might be more accurate. The opening reel, effectively jolting, affords an initial overview of the events through the eyes, lenses, monitors, and duelling sensibilities of a TV news producer (Sigourney Weaver), her activist-minded reporter (Zoe Saldana) and crew. Everybody’s in Salamanca for the start of an international conference to reaffirm Arab-Western commitment to the fight against terrorism. Terrorism, of course, sees this as an ideal moment to break out. As gunshots and explosions reduce everything to chaos, the clock is reset to zero and we proceed to revisit the scene as experienced by several Secret Service agents (namely Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox), an American tourist with camcorder (Forest Whitaker), sundry locals--including three who may be caught up in a love triangle or a conspiracy or both--and even the President himself (William Hurt).

For a while, this is mildly diverting: that guy, or that gesture, so sinister when glimpsed across the plaza in one run-through, now appears harmless in closeup--or vice versa. But there's no real ambiguity (so stop with the careless comparisons to Kurosawa's Rashomon)--this is a shell game in which the peas aren't worth tracking. Despite decent actors, the characters might as well be holograms (although poor Forest Whitaker is saddled with "motivation" of surpassing sappiness), and the casting telegraphs several twists: one redoubtable good guy practically gives a wink-wink, nudge-nudge that he's really bad, etc. The movie declines to specify which nutjob philosophy the terrorists espouse, and their numbers are multi-ethnic. There's also a laborious suggestion that they have bloodthirsty, reactionary counterparts among the President's inner circle, which perhaps qualifies as redeeming socio-political comment and prompts a meaningless declaration of deep meaning from the Prez. The whole megilleh finally comes down to an extended car chase through impassably claustrophobic streets that would mark a lurch into unintentional self-parody--if only that point hadn't been passed a couple of rewinds earlier. --Richard T. Jameson

Synopsis
An attempt on the life of the president reveals a much larger conspiracy in this thriller starring Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, and Forest Whitaker. Vantage Point takes the point of view of five witnesses and shows them all to reveal the truth.

Sunday Lunch

Not that traditional today. Penne pasta with home grown tomatoes and an aubergine cooked with garlic and onions.



-- Post From My iPhone

Lunch today

At my mum's with pasta and fish balls and Swedish meatballs with home grown beans of some description. Loads of chilli sauce.


-- Post From My iPhone

Lunch on Thursday

I was out and about in London on Thursday and decided to have this for lunch at a small restaurant in Chinatown. It's a Hor Fun chicken in XO sauce. Yummy!


-- Post From My iPhone

A list of amusing things to do for FREE!

Blink wildly and then close your eyes really tight for an interesting light show
(Amusement Potential: 1-5 minutes)
See a variety of blobs, stars and flashes. Try to make out shapes and see if your subconscious is trying to send you a message (perhaps that funny shape is saying, 'send all your money to urban75.com'?)

See how long you can hold a note
(Amusement Potential: 4-20 minutes)
Not that much fun, but it sure passes the time. Play with a friend, or try to beat your own personal best. Inhale deeply and then try and make a noise for as long as you can. Earn extra points for making your partner laugh or ending on an amusing note.

Try to not think about penguins
(Amusement Potential: 1-5 minutes)
This is especially hard, because by trying too much, you remember what you were trying to avoid thinking of. If you try too little, you end up thinking about penguins anyway.

Use your secret mind power
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Pick a passing by and try to use your mind power to command them do something, like drop their bag or knock into someone. The law of averages dictates that sooner or later one of your mind commands will come true, so you can convince yourself that you really have super human powers and waste even more time trying them out.

Pretend you're a robot
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
Walk down the street with mechanical movements, adding 'zzzzzt' sounds with each motion. Pretending to have a motor broken in, say, your left hand can add at least 30 seconds more entertainment.

Scratch yourself
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
Go ahead, scratch yourself now. Even if nothing itches, go ahead. Doesn't that feel pretty good?

Rate passers by
(Amusement Potential: 10-15 minutes)
Secretly award passers by marks out of ten as you go along, offering (unsaid) expert criticism over their clothing, hairstyle and footwear choices.

Repeat the same word over and over until it loses its meaning
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
Pick a random word out of a magazine and say it aloud to yourself until it becomes a meaningless set of noises.

Pinch yourself
(Amusement Potential: 1-3 minutes)
What is pain? Why is it unpleasant? There's nothing physical about it - it's all in your mind. Plus, after pinching yourself for awhile, boredom will seem nice next to being in pain.

Try to swallow your tongue
(Amusement Potential: 1-2 minutes)
There's not much to say about this one. It is possible, but really stupid.

Pretend to be a car
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Make appropriate revving noises in your head as you walk along and add a racing commentary as you pass strangers in the street. Use blinking eyes as indicators for extra authenticity.

Make Star Trek door noises
(Amusement Potential: 1-2 minutes)
Stand by an electric door to a bank or something and make that silly "Scccccccchwop" sound heard whenever people popped on to the bridge to hang with Captain Kirk.

Look at something for awhile, shut eyes, study after image
(Amusement Potential: 2-5 minutes)
Another great time waster. It takes about 30 seconds of staring to create an after image, and the image is then viewable for about the same length of time. Fun to combine this one with pushing on your eyes.

Get yourself as nauseated as possible
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Best achieved by looking straight up and spinning around. Try to be so dizzy you can't even stand up. This is also entertaining due to the "makes boredom seem a lot better" effect (see "Hurt Yourself").

Invent a weird twitch
(Amusement Potential: 5-10 minutes)
Adopt a bizarre twitch (e.g. flicking your head irregularly, twitching with eye or busting out sporadic cough noises) and try it out when you go shopping.

Make a low buzzing noise
(Amusement Potential: 15-30 minutes)
Hours of fun in libraries! Keeping a totally straight face and looking nonchalant, make a low pitch humming/buzzing noise and see who reacts.

Karren Brady to replace Margaret Mountford on the Apprentice

As we speak, reality television is on its knees. Big Brother has been dealt a death blow, Strictly Come Dancing is the new face of callous ageism, and the opening stages of The X Factor have literally turned into a pantomime. It's only going to take one more knock to send the whole reality industry crashing to the ground, and there's a pretty good chance that it might look like Karren Brady.
It was reported last week that Karren Brady, the boss of the terminally mediocre Birmingham City FC, will be taking over from Margaret Mountford as Sir Alan Sugar's sidekick during the next series of The Apprentice. It's a thankless task if ever there was one - Margaret, with her polar bear haircut and crippling disdain for everything she ever encountered, was dangerously close to becoming a national treasure - but even so, it's hard not to feel a little uneasy about the appointment.
Replacing an Apprentice sidekick is a historically dicey move. What killed the American Apprentice wasn't the godawful Martha Stewart spin-off - although to be fair having a boss who wrote each candidate a letter of apology directly after firing them was an act of dizzing gormlessness. No, what did the American Apprentice in was when Donald Trump booted his trusty cohort Carolyn Kepcher and drafted in his younger daughter Ivanka in her place. Almost immediately afterwards, the show got uprooted to LA, the losing team had to sleep outside in tents, and all the viewers disappeared in search of something less idiotic.
It's a slightly different scenario over here. Carolyn Kepcher almost certainly didn't leave to pursue her love of Egyptian papyrology, and if Alan Sugar shared Donald Trump's fondness for nepotism, then it'd be Roxy Mitchell off EastEnders sitting in the boardroom instead of Karren Brady. But the result could be the same; people just don't like change.
Also, in her previous appearances on The Apprentice, Karren Brady's default persona was chippy and confrontational. Her new job will require her to be a little more elegant. Instead of simply barking rhetorical questions at hapless candidates, she'll need to learn how to cultivate the sort of detached ennui that Moundford made her own – an air that says: "You people at home might find all of this hilarious, but I'm missing a BBC4 documentary about advanced geology here."
Most of all, though, Karren Brady's appointment is going to hurt Nick. He and Margaret weren't just a team - they actually looked like a couple. You could imagine them nipping off during breaks to go and sit on a seafront bench together, where they'd gently discuss times gone by over the tinfoil-wrapped sandwiches they'd made that morning. It was sweet.
But Nick and Karren Brady? That's just weird. It'd make Nick look like he was going through an alarming midlife crisis. It'd make Karren look like Anna Nicole Smith. It wouldn't work at all. Karren Brady would do well to tread carefully when The Apprentice starts filming.

The Guardian 2009

Shirley Bassey's Grand Daughter auditions for X Factor

The X Factor judges were left stunned when Dame Shirley Bassey's teenage granddaughter tried out for the show, it has emerged.

Tatjana, 17, performed in front of Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole in Birmingham earlier this year and her audition will be screened later this month, according to The Sun.

A source told the newspaper: "When the judges realised who Tatjana was, they were gobsmacked. They couldn't understand what she was doing on the show.

"It was quite sad. She had to explain that she hasn't seen her gran since she was tiny and admits the reality show is her only chance of a pop career."

It is believed that the audition took a further twist when Tatjana's rendition of Faith Hill's 'There You'll Be' proved to be a disappointment, leaving the panel with a dilemma.

"They weren't bowled over but they did like Tatjana's personality," the insider explained.

The newspaper reports that Tatjana is the daughter of Bassey's adopted son Mark Novak. She is said to have lost touch with the singing superstar after her parents split in the '90s