German modeling
Teutonic ad for the classic 70’s Matchbox model kits.
February 28, 2020
Graveyard Shift
Friday night was typically late night horror films on my 6” B&W TV. Under the bed sheets with a mono headphone I’d watch such classics as Dracula or the Wolfman. here our Friday lady on a bobbed classic Triumph in a graveyard… in monochrome.
February 25, 2020
Way-Wah
George Harrison would have been 77 today. His music was more thoughtful especially his opus-like triple album All Things Must Pass. He also supported the arts as a movie producer and had an interest in racing, both Formula One and Motorcycle Grand Prix. Here he is with Barry Sheen #7 at some racetrack. Barry is wearing a non-flammable racing outfit rather than his usual leathers so must be getting in a four wheeled racer.
February 20, 2020
Oxidation
More than an age worn patina, this mid seventies Bonneville has been weatherized under decades of barn rafter dust and farm critter nesting. It may be past any level of recovery with an appearance of disintegration into its constituent ferrous and alumina atoms.
February 12, 2020
Taggart!
Banned! Before 2000AD there was Action comic which first came out in early 1976. Due to the grisly nature of the storylines and illustration it was receiving bad press by late ’77. By that time Judge Dredd and his future brutal police state had become more popular and a dystopian hooligan theme was fading away. Pat Mills and John Wagner cut their teeth on this and the Mary Whitehouse PC crowd. Death Game 1999 – which later became a tamed down Spinball was rugby on bikes ridden by hardened criminals…
February 8, 2020
Philoe Beddoe
“Right Turn Clyde” – a lazy Saturday afternoon film from the late seventies: Any which way but loose. A Clint Eastwood adventure about as deep as a dried up creek. The Black Widows biker gang haul around on a variety of choppers including a long legged Triumph ridden by horned Dallas.
February 1, 2020
Piston Power
Nice Legs, Shame about the Face! Engineering prowess displayed on an outside shin next to its inspiration. If you held the bare leg against the hot engine it would brand the iconic ‘gin onto the inside shin…
January 22, 2020
Keep Left signs
“What are they in it for, these old hoodlums, these layabouts in lace?”
Just one of countless laughs from Python Terry Jones who passed away today. Along with Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle and Palin; the absurdist British humor was infectious.
“Pension day’s the worst – they go mad. As soon as they get their hands on their money they blow it all on milk, bread, tea, tin of meat for the cat.“
January 21, 2020
The Law
Let’s Roll! More future cop adventures. This time drawn in the impeccable line work of artist Brian Bolland. Mark 1 Lawmasters aimed directly for the viewer. Blocks loom under a moody sky in the background.
January 20, 2020
Lawman
First Spread | Prog 2 March 5 1977. This is when Judge Dredd burst out of the page on his Lawmaster. Fine illustration by the unmatchable Carlos Ezquerra, who created the original look of the Judge’s, though the remainder of the strips pages were drawn by Mick McMahon who was to further refine the Dredd look over the following couple of years.
January 15, 2020
Gittern God
Skydog | supremo guitarist Duane Allman picking away on his ’59 Cherry Sunburst Gibson Les Paul. He looks to be in another zone altogether. Cool t-shirt.
January 10, 2020
The sound of a different drummer
Adventure Percussionist | Rush drummer Neil Peart recently passed away. His contribution to music is legendary. He was also an avid long distance motorcyclist covering countless miles between concerts and later journeys of introspective exploration. His autobiography Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road a haunting memoir of self rediscovery.
Neil Peart (1952-2020)
December 31, 2019
Racing Bike
The Future Was Here | The imaginative illustrations of Syd Mead spoke of a streamlined and slick world of cool architecture and knife-sharp cars. This Honda 3000 has hints of Kaneda’s bike from ’89 Manga animation Akira. Mead developed the feel of dystopian Blade Runner and the computer integration of Tron. Syd passed away yesterday at the age of 86.
December 17, 2019
Creativity is Intelligence having fun
LEGO | someone knows their studded block assembly with this model of an early 70’s Triumph Bonneville. Plenty of tricky parts to get the engine looking somewhat realistic. Growing up LEGO was my favorite building toy.
November 27, 2019
Space Bike
2000AD | Forty years ago I got this annual for Christmas. Classic sci-fi comic that began in the seventies, which is still going strong. Technical cover by art droid Kevin O’Neill who later went on to create Nemesis the Warlock. We’re visiting my folks in Blighty where this book was stacked upon a shelf.
