Love is in the air - Texas style

I got this email from my Dad, who is an American. Hope none of my regular readers don't have a phobia about snakes lol

Hi Boys, This is how rattlesnakes mate. Ain't love grand! Photos taken somewhere in West or North Texas. Look at the mesquite trees in the background in the first photo. Could even be Archer County! (I've heard of this but never seen it.) Dad

ps I have not shown these pictures to Wendy. It would be guaranteed to cause her nightmares!

Business card mk2

This is my new business card. I have had enough of the railway station card machine ones, and have upgraded to some slightly snazzier ones :)

But I'm already regretting not having put the shiny finish on them! lol. Next time :)

Bailey's Beads

"Just before the Sun blacks out, something strange occurs. As the Moon moves to completely cover the Sun in a total solar eclipse, beads of bright sunlight stream around the edge of the Moon. This effect, known as Baily's beads, is named after Francis Baily who called attention to the phenomenon in 1836. Although, the number and brightness of Baily's beads used to be unpredictable, today the Moon is so well mapped that general features regarding Baily's beads are expected. When a single bead dominates, it is called the diamond ring effect, and is typically seen just before totality. Pictured above, a series of images recorded Baily's beads at times surrounding the recent total solar eclipse visible from Novosibirsk, Russia. The complete series can be seen by scrolling right. At the end of totality, as the Sun again emerges from behind the moon, Baily's beads may again be visible -- but now on the other side of the Moon."

Batchelor boy

I thought I would post these couple of photos. Mainly for comedy value! :)

I've haven't been home much in the last month, and when I did I only seemed to sleep. I hadn't noticed that the freezer door had been slightly ajar. A practical experiment to demonstrate the laws of thermodynamics occurred when I wasn't looking. And this was the outcome!

Scientific proof that single men, even occasionally fabulous ones, can't look after themselves very well. I should have photographed the pile of ironing too! For a full Catholic guilt trip! lol

It took forever to de-frost!

Stunt car

And this is what they did to my car lol

Perseids

We are currently passing through the Perseid meteor shower. Something the Earth does every year. Here are a couple of cool shots from the year and previous years shows. Niiiice!

More Bold new movie posters

Ask and ye shall receive, Nicky Boy! ;) Sulu, Scotty, Chekov, and Bones.

And cut!

The UK part of the production of King Con, aka Con Men, aka Showmen has ended after the star Govinda returned to India unexpectedly! lol All remaining scenes will be shot back in India, including the building fall stunt which I really wanted to see.

Long days, but fantastic fun. The crew were excellent, and even though there were a few culture clashes - I enjoyed working with them all, and would do so again.

So now looking for the next gig. I have a couple of things in the pipeline so wish me luck for what may be coming.

But first, sleeeeeeep! lol

Carlton Towers

I visited the most beautiful stately home today with the film crew - Carlton Towers near Goole in Humberside. A Stunning hidden gem, that is still a family home (although they do rent out bits for weddings and such.

It was like having free reign in a museum lol. And as Locations guy, I got to wander where ever I wanted around the place :) Each room was dripping with paintings, and gilded artwork. Knowing it wasn't a display open to the general public added to a sense of seeing something you don't often get the chance to see.

They had a stunning grand piano that had to be 100 plus years old. I had to have a go, of course - and even had Govinda, our A-lister clapping along to Lady Marmalade and whatever else I could remember from the top of my head. One Indian guy asked me if I only knew Western folk music after one Beatles tune! lol


Govinda is fascinating to watch. Seeing crowds form where ever he appears, you get an appriciation of what a HUGE star he in Bollywood. Filming today in a closed location made a nice change because if the lack of disruption by crowds. The good old British weather did twice as much damage though, as it pissed it down for most of the day, and they couldn't get half of the exterior shots that they wanted. They could do with a break, the Indians, they really could.

But a great day again, and very interesting once again. Its long days 7am to 11.45om today, but it doesnt really feel like work. More like a long and tiring, but fun day out somewhere. Long may it last!


And another cool bit today was when I was having a cigerette outside the house, as was Bond villain Kabir Bedi (and official Indian national treasure), along with the director and a couple of other people. Kabir told a few stories about Roger Moore, John Barrie, and Barbara Brocolli. I know I shouldn't have been impressed - but I was! lol

Laters!


PS. I just wiki'd Carlton Towers and I just realised that Lord Edward who I met a couple of times today, is in fact the Duke of Norfolk!! LOL. The wikipedia entries for him and his title are a brilliant history lesson. Coo, fancy that! Genuine aristocracy lol. I thought it was a pretty cracking house full of cool stuff! Now I know :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlton_Towers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Norfolk

PPS. For those wishing to keep score, I have now appeared in it 6 times (the back of me only was in a bar scene tonight), my car has appeared in it 3 times (I haven't told you yet about how it got used as a stunt vehicle and ragged up and down a road!!), and my Bluetooth Nokia head-piece has been used once (yes, Govinda is wearing my mobile phone ear-peice) ;)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

You might occasionally wonder where I get all the cool photos from space and beyond. NASA have a daily website called (funnily enough) Astronomy Picture of the Day. http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html. They have been busy in the last few days. Enjoy! :)



1. The Echus chasm on Mars
2. Jupiter over Hadrians temple in Ephesus
3. Rhea and Saturn
4. The moon over the temple of Posiedon in Greece
5. Soyuz docking with the International Space Station

Watchmen posters

Press Release

And not from me! The Yorkshire Evening Post somehow got my name and number and rang me the other day trying to get a scoop!! And I nearly gave it to them! lol You live and learn. DO NOT TALK TO THE PRESS WITHOUT PERMISSION!!! phew!

By Joginder Tuteja

Govinda's next film which is being directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia has finally found a title for itself. As per reliable sources, the film is being titled Con Flick. Now that's quite an interesting title for the film since it features Govinda as a conman.

Confirms the source attached to the film's crew, "Though a formal announcement would be made shortly, Tigmanshu has more or less closed on Con Flick as the film's title. It is a fun film and since the lead protagonist is a conman here, it made sense to have the kind of a name which justifies the essence of the subject."

Tigmanshu Dhulia, who has earlier directed films like Haasil and Charas (both starring Jimmy Sheirgill in the lead), has another ace up his sleeves in the form of Rimi Sen who would be playing an obese woman weighing as much as 160 kilos. She plays Govinda's love interest and the film promises to showcase some amazing chemistry between a young obese girl and a not-so-young man.

Also starring Vidya Malavade and Kabir Bedi in principal roles, Con Flick is quite a departure for Dhulia who in the past has been labeled as a filmmaker with a knack for making hard hitting films, courtesy Haasil and Charas. This time around, he takes a comic route by roping in Govinda, the uncrowned king of comedy and Rimi Sen, who has 'seriously' made a great impression with comic portrayal of a gold digger in recently released De Taali.

It should be quite en eventful journey for Tigmanshu Dhulia from this point because while he heads for the shoot of Con Flick, he already has wrapped up the principal shoot of Shagird which stars Nana Patekar, Anurag Kashyap and Mohit Ahlawat in lead along with Rimi Sen (again)!

Some of the other films to be directed by Dhulia which were announced in the months gone by but are yet to see some progress are Fame (Sunil Shetty, Govinda, Kay Kay Menon, Anjori Alag), Ghayal 2 (Sunny Deol, Om Puri) and Ghulami (Sunny Deol, Sameera Reddy). However, one hopes that after being in the wait for years, Dhulia does manage to mark a comeback with Con Flick and Shagird.