tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-228588112026-05-23T04:08:45.979+01:00"Scraping Along The Bottom!"Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.comBlogger4260125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-16276969697073690062026-05-22T22:27:00.000+01:002026-05-23T04:08:45.979+01:00

 My new hat was about the most exciting thing that happened today.  For many, many years now, I've kept meaning to replace the fedora hat I once owned.  It wasn't a particularly great fedora - it was cheap and definitely not crushable, as they should be.  I also never risked finding out whether it was waterproof.  I eventually donated it to an amateur dramatics group,

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-50473097227449890062026-05-21T20:58:23.493+01:002026-05-21T20:58:23.494+01:00

I caught a film called The Sins of Dorian Gray (1983) a while ago.   Obviously, it was a version of 'The Portrait of Dorian Gray', updated to the then present day and with the gender of the title character switched.  As updatings of oft-told tales go, it wasn't badly done, although suffering from the fact that it was made for TV with TV movie resources.  Instead of a portrait

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-7766947320262893982026-05-19T22:52:48.038+01:002026-05-19T22:52:48.039+01:00

I have a real affection for films whose titles tell you pretty much all you need to know about them. Like Massage Parlour Murders (1973) - girls are being murdered by a client as they work in massage parlours.  That's it, that's what the film is about.  Two police detectives, one of whom frequents said parlours to get away from his wife, investigate.  His partner proceeds to

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-48114314590347752842026-05-18T22:50:00.000+01:002026-05-19T00:03:37.052+01:00

I was going to concoct a satirical piece on how, if they aren't going to let us win it, the UK should pull out of the Eurovision Song Contest.  Much in the manner of Trump's rant about not getting the Nobel Peace Prize, so why should he be concerned with peace any more?  But yesterday I came across a piece in the Express which said much the same thing, then went further.  Now,

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-88484025894888417832026-05-15T23:26:35.485+01:002026-05-15T23:26:35.486+01:00

So, first of all it was to pay for his security, now it is a 'reward' for campaigning for Brexit.  Come on Nige, just tell us, once and for all, what was it really for?  I refer, of course, to that five million quid that was surreptitiously slipped to Nigel Farage in used fivers inside a crumpled brown envelope, in a deserted multi-storey car park at midnight, by some shady non-dom tech

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-62033660235450753772026-05-14T22:48:00.000+01:002026-05-15T00:38:25.878+01:00

A monster movie from Frederic Hobbs, the eccentric and enigmatic artist and sometime film director, Godmonster of Indian Flats (1973) is as unorthodox as one might expect from the man who also brought us Alabama's Ghost (1973).  The film ostensibly follows the pattern of a typical fifties or sixties low-budget monster B-movie, with a local farmer discovering a mutated sheep embryo, which his

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-50207380427320773672026-05-12T22:50:00.000+01:002026-05-13T04:24:56.054+01:00

 Meanwhile, back on the model railway - a recent acquisition: a Triang-Hornby converter wagon.These were introduced when Lines Brothers, owners of Triang Railways, bought out Meccano and its Hornby Dublo system, (thereby creating Triang-Hornby), in order to allow the rolling stock of both systems to be run together, despite their incompatible couplings.  In the above photo, the green

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-52614649268769966242026-05-11T23:16:00.000+01:002026-05-12T00:52:27.928+01:00

It feels like it is becoming increasingly difficult to disentangle what's really happening in the world from the narratives being propelled by the media.  Take this whole circus surrounding the Labour leadership.  I make no claims of having any inside knowledge or insight into the situation, but what is clear is that the media has decided upon a narrative which has only one conclusion:

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-23752100635369221022026-05-08T23:29:25.124+01:002026-05-13T19:41:58.676+01:00

I can't deny that when I saw those tabloid headlines today about the former Prince Andrew being chased around his home by a masked man, I simply assumed that this was another revelation from the Epstein files.  I mean, there seems to be no limit to the sort of kinkiness the Epstein crowd got up to, so male rape fantasies would be no surprise at all.  But no, it turns out that it

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-16439275524814250592026-05-07T22:48:00.000+01:002026-05-08T00:44:22.774+01:00

I was reading about that French academic who awarded himself a non-existent international prize for philology.  The truly amazing thing about it was that it took years for anyone to call him out, so accomplished was his deception - he created a whole fake institute, (which, in reality, was nothing more than a website), to nominate himself (and other candidates), then award him the prize.&

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-65481520283653616552026-05-05T22:12:00.000+01:002026-05-06T01:34:39.875+01:00

I can see that it's going to be one of 'those' weeks.  Much as I enjoy bank holidays. (although, as noted elsewhere, they are technically meaningless to me, as I'm no longer part of the regular workforce, so can take off any day I damn well please), they are disruptive to my normal schedules.  As, per most bank holidays, I spent Monday mainly on the sofa watching old films and eating

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-57558231787748404022026-05-04T22:56:00.000+01:002026-05-05T00:16:20.394+01:00

Sometimes - and usually against my better judgement - I revisit a movie that, when I first saw it, I thought was an irredeemable mess.  So, I recently sat down and rewatched, for probably the first time in twenty-plus years, The Avengers (1998), the largely forgotten and largely unlamented attempt to reboot the classic sixties TV series for the big screen. One of the reasons that the film

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-2650603926112712912026-05-01T22:47:00.000+01:002026-05-02T00:33:16.965+01:00

There's nothing like a funeral to remind us of our own mortality.  Having attended one this time last week, I've spent the past seven days, not obsessed with the subject, but certainly feeling more aware of my own mortality than usual.  Not in a morbid way, but just contemplating the way our awareness of the fact evolves over time.  I mean, when we're young, we think that we are

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-11241274490164557772026-04-30T23:07:00.000+01:002026-05-01T00:04:06.647+01:00

Ever had that sneaking suspicion that, somehow, you've inadvertently transgressed some online law and are now getting paid back over it?  It's what I've been left wondering of late as not only has the amount of spam I receive been increasing, but increasingly, it's in French.  I mean, why?  Sure, I watch French language movies with subtitles, but I can't recall the last time I

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-79981982413748476162026-04-28T23:34:19.227+01:002026-04-28T23:34:19.228+01:00

Cannon Films, while they existed (which was for a surprisingly long time), were always reminiscent of Universal or Columbia Pictures as they existed in thirties and forties.  Almost, but-not-quite, major studios adept at turning out mid-budgeted pictures or grinding out series spun off from such a successful film, with ever decreasing budgets and ambitions, yet all the time still striving to

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-67139193144066875892026-04-27T23:27:00.000+01:002026-05-20T01:28:05.725+01:00

'Washington in shock after Trump press gala shooting' blare the headlines today.  Shock at what, exactly?  The fact that this is the third (alleged) attempt on Trump's life?  Or that the US, a nation renowned for its gun nuts, who have been brought up to shoot from the moment they can walk, has produced so many bad shots and just downright incompetent would-be assassins?  It's

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-20052496619362072432026-04-24T23:34:00.000+01:002026-04-25T00:07:32.046+01:00

The latest episode of 'After Hours', which can be heard here:After Hours: The Man Who Fought Hitler's Ghost This is episode three and I'm somewhat happier with this one than the previous edition.  It could still do with a slightly shorter running time, but overall, it is far more streamlined than its predecessor.  Most of the segments were recorded as the scripts were completed, which

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-2537197120344961732026-04-23T23:11:00.000+01:002026-05-05T01:16:29.347+01:00

I suddenly realised that I hadn't commented on the passing of so called 'MoD UFO Expert' Nick Pope.  Now, while my condolences obviously go to his family, I feel that it is worth reiterating that all of his supposed insights into the UK MoD's 'UFO Files' were absolute bollocks.  There has never been a 'UFO Desk' at the MoD - there is simply some poor desk officer to whom falls the task

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-88440011918723052992026-04-21T23:14:00.003+01:002026-04-22T01:29:22.152+01:00

Damn it, I did it again!  I allowed myself to be drawn in by one of those tabloid story headlines and ended up underwhelmed!  In this case it was a Daily Star story on an aggregator site, entitled 'Brit Scientist Killed by Carrots After Horror Experiment Went Very Wrong'.  I mean, how could I resist?  It immediately conjured up visions of a crazed botanist in a lab full of

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-13746771299894607142026-04-20T22:42:00.006+01:002026-04-21T01:32:57.100+01:00

An Italian/German/Yugoslav co-production, the fact that The Dead Are Alive (1972) isn't better known is possibly related to it being misleadingly marketed in various territories.  It's English language title seems to imply a zombie movie, while the German release title and marketing - which translates as Mystery of the Yellow Grave - plays up a tenuous Edgar Wallace connection, (it was

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-76271772247646335152026-04-17T22:48:00.002+01:002026-04-18T04:16:44.082+01:00

I recently decided to do my mental health a favour and opt out of following the Spurs, or, indeed, any football for the time being.  With Tottenham looking down the barrel of relegation from the Premier League and the whole 'controversy' over the appointment of Roberto DeZerbi as manager, the whole fan discourse surrounding the club has become incredibly toxic.  I alluded to the Roberto

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-45267756928447158092026-04-16T22:43:00.002+01:002026-04-17T00:21:02.232+01:00

It's been a while since I bored everyone with talk of model railways, so I thought I'd bring you an update on something I recently bought at the local Toy and Model Train Fair: This is an ex-LMS General Utility Van (GUV).  Although built by and for the LMS.after nationalisation these could be found all over the British Railways network, often in parcels trains, or attached to the back

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-56444097810340566392026-04-14T22:48:00.016+01:002026-04-15T00:47:50.228+01:00

One of the fascinating things about web stats is seeing where the various visitors to your site come from.  Or supposedly come from.  According to my IP address, for instance, I can be either in Leeds, Rochdale or Wakefield, whereas, in reality, I'm physically located at the other end of the country.  It's down to the fact that there days I'm with a relatively small ISP, whose

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-57261281547369224702026-04-13T23:17:00.001+01:002026-04-14T06:34:08.409+01:00

Look, the media really do have to stop 'sane washing' Donald Trump.  Lately, I've come across even otherwise sober outlets like The Guardian and the BBC discussing how Trump's erratic behaviour in terms of his foreign policy are down to him employing the 'Madman Strategy'.  The thinking goes that this approach -  which supposedly originated with Richard Nixon - involves

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22858811.post-56626956776550409102026-04-10T21:01:00.001+01:002026-04-11T00:02:53.884+01:00

Some historical movies really need to run a disclaimer in the opening credits, along the lines of 'any resemblance to historical fact is purely coincidental and completely unintentional on the part of the producers'.  I watched a couple of such movies, both from the sixties, which fell firmly into this category over the Easter weekend.  One was Battle of the Bulge (1965), a war movie

Doc Sleazehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939793278552442225noreply@blogger.com0