How can you
have any pudding if you don’t eat yer meat?”
We don’t need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it’s just another brick in the wall.
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall.
– Top rated TT racer from the Merseyside region, Geoff had multiple wins road racing in the mid C20th. Here’s a photo at the ‘52 Assen GP where he took victory on this 350 Norton featherbed machine. Geoff would have been 98 today.
– Mr Steve McQueen would have been 91 today. Always the King of Cool! he’s wearing his iconic blue dial Tag Heuer Monaco watch. The Norton Commando fits the Bill too!
– more likely to see him riding a scooter through the Chelsea district of London; actor Jude Law, seen here modeling a Post Office Red Norton Commando, is 48 today.
– chopped Brit iron developed into winterized transport for the northern climes. Well, it extends the riding season!
– found pencil study of a Norton 750 engine. I’ve been warming up my HB’s & ink pens for a more dedicated sketching programme that I will be undertaking over the winter.
– on our return drive from a weekend away we stopped at the hipster town of Three Oaks MI. In one of the dusty window displays at an old hardware store stands a couple of vintage bikes. A 750cc Triumph Bonneville and a Norton Commando. I’ll have a 1/2lb bag of 6d nails please!
– genuine nice guy Keanu Reeves is 56 today. True motorcycle enthusiast and manufacturer. He’s currently starring with Alex Winter in the long awaited latest installment of the Bill & Ted buddy outing franchise.
Madeline Smith & Nicky Henson taking a break from filming the 70’s comedic version of the 18th Century Henry Fielding classic novel. I don’t think the Norton motorcycle is period accurate…
– benchtop engineering. If you think you have trouble working from home with a cat draped over your keyboard, imagine one on your work surfaces chasing bolts and washers about.
The Leather Boys | classic early sixties biker film depicting a fictionalization of the rocker lifestyle in the UK. Gritty kitchen sink drama.
Kinky Boots | As Patrick Macnee (John Steed) & Honor Blackman (Cathy Gale) sang back in 1964:
“Full length, half length,
Fully fashion calf length,
Brown boots, black boots,
Patent leather jackboots,
Low boots, high boots,
Lovely lanky thigh boot,
We all dig those boots..”
Nice Trident & Commando too!
Theodore “Ted” Logan | Keanu Reeves is known for many iconic movie roles (Johnny Utah, Neo, John Wick) but the first was as one half of the dim witted Californian duo Bill & Ted. They travel through time, in a phone booth, meeting historical figure thus ensuring good high school grades and eventual fame for their band Wyld Stallyn’s. A future utopian society based on their music depends on them not flunking high school.
It was just announced last week that a third B&T film is going to be made for release in 2020. Bodacious dude!
Keanu is a very keen motorcyclist, being seen on all kinds of rides including this contemporary Norton. He also formed a company called Arch Motorcycles building high end custom bikes. We’ll cover this in a separate post.
“Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K”
If the Cap Fits – I found this Norton hat in my bikes top box at the weekend. It’s Deans sun visor he bought last year for strolling around a hot sunny bike show. I’d better get it back to him!
‘Ard as Nails – superb ink drawing of Tank Girl on a heavy booted Norton from the capable illustrator hand of Jamie Hewlett.
