Postings again are a bit thin on the ground due to a recurring back problem. My wife thinks I spend too much time in front of the screen, but actually, I bent down to clear some leaves and hey presto, incapacitation. However, I am not able to do justice to 2 blogs, so for the time being I shall transfer my attention from here to Brodick Photo World . Hopefully see you there.

D is for Dan

Thinking about what D's had made any sort of impression upon me gave rise to a certain amount of head scratching. Donald Duck didn't really seem to be quite right, but Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future was surely worthy of a mention. Now it has been a long time since I gave this character any thought, in fact probably not a great deal since the 1950's when in Britain it was almost compulsary for 8 to 12 year olds to read his weekly adventure in the Eagle comic. I think I almost believed in little green men at the time and would never have been surprised to meet the Mekon.


Dan Dare

Dan Dare was certainly the most popular fictional character in British history during the 1950's, and helped the Eagle to sell around three-quarters of a million copies each week and with an unprecedented amount of merchandise produced (rivalling the likes of, say, Star Wars in the modern era). During the 1950's he even had his own voice-acted radio show on Radio Luxembourg (the first sort of pirate radio station, and television had hardly arrived in Britain at this time, and radio was still the number one source of in-home entertainment). Dan Dare and the Eagle were also exported to many countries around the world during this period, with local editions produced in countries including France, Holland, Croatia and Australia.

These are just a few links I found which may be a nostalgia trip for some, or a new experience for others.
Dan Dare Pilot of the Future
Dan Dare - Pilot of the Future
Dan Dare - Home Page


Another Dan from the past is Desperate Dan who appeared in the Beano, and later the Dandy, and is still around today, although I don't think that the is impact is very noticeable now. In 1999 the Dandy became the worlds longest running comic, after having been in existence for more than 60 years and thus made it to the Guinness Book of Records. He was as politically incorrect as it was possible to be, unlike Dan Dare who was what every young boy dreamed of being. Maybe there were even some who aspired to be like Desperate Dan and live on cow pie and have adventures nearer to home.

Dandy is king of the comics
Beano strips
The Hound - September 2004


Desperate dan

I have been having a bit of a nightmare today which started as making a few quick changes to my page layouts. Needless to say, a five minute job has occupied me for a couple of hours and has wiped out any hope of a posting for today. Will try again tomorrow.

"C" is for Cartoon

I found a most appealing blog at It's only ordinary because it's there. which has inspired me have a try at a cartoon of my own. Whether the results merit publishing, I doubt, but what the hell!


Cartoon

As this little masterpiece has taken a toll on my schedule for today I think that I may have to CurTail operations with just a short piece today.

B

Before I continuing my alphabetical meanderings I went to my home page for a quick read of the headline and came across Is this internet prodigy about to knock Microsoft off its pedestal?

If you have already switched to Firefox as your browser, this will confirm that you probably made a good choice. If not, then read it and then download it from Firefox - Rediscover the web

So, where did we get to? Yes I know, not very far. B firstly, on a personal note should be for Brodick, a topic I have covered briefly in my opening blogs, and just to remind you it is the main town on the Isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland. By the greater scheme of things, it is not wonderful in itself, but location, location, location.

Goat Fell from Brodick

B is also for Bruno, another subject visited before, and also Bertie, not previously mentioned, but also sadly departed. I found a picture of them both together with their mate from next door who still comes to visit us in our otherwise petless state. Bertie was a Cairn Terrier, a breed of dog renowned for its stubbornness, but all the more loveable for it.

Bertie, Bruno and "her next door".
Watched Bend it Like Beckham last night which qualifies for my final B. A great feel good movie.

It's a strange thing, but last night I woke in the small hours and wondered what I should be putting in my blog. How sad is that! What is even sadder is that today I cannot remember what it was that I was going to write about, and I had it all worked out so carefully in my mind, with all the arguments beautifully and logically laid out so that there could be no doubt and everyone would agree with me.

So now I am having a rethink. Some of my ramblings of late have become a bit disjointed and I recognise that I need a bit of structure. A theme that takes my fancy right now is to take an alphabetical journey which should occupy me for a few weeks at least.

The letter A poses the first problem. There are so many possibilities, but in the end I have decided that Alexander, one of my own names, should be the first; Alexander the Great of course. Many myths, some of which may be truths, have been written about him, including "Was he a left-handed epileptic cat-hater?" Many of these stories have originated on the web and may or may not have been correct. A good place for browsing is Alexander the Great on the Web where it is possible to sort out the fact from the fiction. With a name like Alexander, I had always gone along with the view of greatness, but it seems that even this is called into question. Maybe I should quit while I'm still ahead.

The Albatros is a bird with some strange stories attached to it, and I trust that this blog will not become a proverbial albatros to myself. Like Alexander they are prone to roam, but mostly at sea where they spend much of there lives. They are also great, in terms of size, being one of the largest flying birds, and I just discovered there are 24 species of them. Have a look at Albatros.

I shall endeavour not to wake too early tomorrow and try to think of a few Bs if I do. Perhaps I might even remember them.

Where was God?

There have been a lot of words written and spoken on the subject of where God was in disaster that has just befallen South East Asia. First of all though it is perhaps important to ask "which God?"; yours or mine? Personally, the jury is still out on the question before that one, i.e. does he actually exist?

Even assuming that you accept the existence of God, be that one particular God, or one of many, then it seems to me pretty presumptive to think that such a being would find it necessary to punish people, however guilty of sin they might be, or even be capable of inflicting such cruelty.

Such disasters have been occurring periodically since time began, and just maybe, God could be telling us that in the face of such horror we should accept our place in the scheme of things and actually learn to get on with each other. It has been shown what can be done when the ordinary people of the world put aside their differences and pull together for the common good. Perhaps those who still find it necessary to fight and kill fellow human beings should take a good hard look at what they are doing and see if there is not a better way.

The following articles from differing religious beliefs look at some of the issues.

Times Online - Newspaper Edition

Was God in This Disaster? by Rodger Kamenetz -- Beliefnet.com

Hindu group condemns labelling tsunami God's vengeance

Cape Argus - Where was God during the tsunami disaster?