My Famous Friends

What is it about fame and celebrity that, no matter how we resist its allure, we still can't help crowing when we have famous friends. Take the other week, for example I learnt that only one floor away from me at work, was the bass player from the punk band Fast Cars who were nearly famous in the eighties; in fact Stuart has a photograph of himself and Paul Weller in his office. Listening to their tracks on MySpace I'd forgotten how much fun that thrash power pop stuff was; if you get chance have a listen by following the link above.

The thing is that despite the fact that I don't really know him, I now tell everyone about him. I like to think that it's something to do with being pleased that someone is creative because if it was simply that Stuart had been on Big Brother I certainly wouldn't bother, so in that vein - creativity - here are two other people I know who are remarkably creative (and also nearly famous...not that it matters, you understand).

Tony Ballantyne actually is famous, if you are in to science fiction. He is a real writer with real books on sale at Amazon; he was also nominated for the Phillip K Dick Award for science fiction this year and went to America for the ceremony. If you meet him ask him about the American sense of humour that simply drew blank looks at this snippet of conversation:
"Congratulations on your Dick, Tony"
"Yes, it's magnificent isn't it".

My other recent discovery was that someone I had known for a while was actual a relatively well known local artist with things wrote about him by proper journalists on the web, not just us bloggers. Chris Maidens creates incredibly intricate artwork that defy description. They are little worlds of their own that, in one article, were described as doodles; but after you have experienced the way that his work draws you in with it's detail and challenges you to see more and more in it, 'doodles' just doesn't do it justice. I was hoping to put a picture of his here but the website that features Chris's work is a bit funny about copyright and all that so it wouldn't let me, follow the link above to see it; and in the meantime I'll have a word with him about displaying one of his pieces for you.(I asked him and added this one on 2nd October).

One day if I'm famous maybe someone will tell their friends about me; maybe they already do, but for all the wrong reasons...hmmm.

How to impress girls: A St Valentine's day special

I found this cracking example of what every modern love-lorn man is missing in his bid to impress girls: a ukulele. Enjoy watching my favourite Lancastrian icon schmooze a lady in this short clip.


Footnote: The following conversation took place between my son and I on his return from work yesterday:

Me: I've had a good day, your cool dad has been on YouTube finding cool videos
Son: Don't say cool dad, you're forty-four
Me: Sorry I'll try to be older
Son: What have you found?
Me: A coo...sorry, really good George Formby clip
Son: What? the guy with the grill is on YouTube, cool.

Look what I found!

Do you remember the music from Trumpton? After a guitar practice I was browsing for a recording of it and look what I found, watch and enjoy:

Trumpton

Incidentally I have a celebrity moment to share. When we were kids the family went to watch an episode of the comedy series 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum' being filmed, I sat next to the Trumpton narrator, Brian Cant in the audience, good eh?

How to be famous

In yesterday's post I mentioned that during my stay in hospital, some of the conversations I overheard reinforced my view that the cult of celbrity has passed me by. I remain unimpressed by Big Brother, uninterested in soap opera and underwhelmed by gossip journalism. In todays Independent, Katy Guest's feature on Jade Goody the Big Brother winner, lays bare the UK's fascination with fame. In a wry look at Goody's path from dental nurse nobody, through 'Britain's most despised woman', to multi-million earning professional celebrity, she disects our national need to be close to famous people even to the point of inventing our own. As publicist Max Clifford is quoted as saying, "The public get the celebrities they deserve". My favourite quote though, goes to Guest herself when, talking about Goody's mother Jackiey, she says:

"She is not your average one-armed lesbian."

Having read the Goody piece I am no closer to understanding why I remain unaffected by the obsession with fame. In the same edition the paper celebrates the return of the Gallagher family in Channel 4's fabulous series Shameless. The piece compares the reality of West Gorton, the tough Manchester estate where the series is set, with the reality of the true residents. The comparison, even according to the locals, is a good one. Ironically the makers of the series may have to move the family to another Manchester estate because redevelopment plans could mean that the estate loses its tough appearance. Oh, by the way, when you watch Shameless tonight take a close look at the area; my grandma, used to live there, in Armitage Court an eleven storey block of flats, typical of the '60s housing used to replace the terraced slums that were the heart of many of Manchester's older communities.

I have an irresistable urge to to tell everyone that my Gran is nearly famous; tell your friends.