Ed Bear Sellek

One Battle After Another (1986)
Director: Yu Suzuki
Publisher: Sega

Still frame of Thorkell in anime "Vinland Saga"

Crop of an 1880 frieze by Danish artist Lorenz Frølich, showing historical figure Thorkell the Tall

Falling asleep last night to a nice relaxing audiobook about north sea raiding between 950 and 1041 CE, but actually I can't relax because it's trying to tell me this silly guy was REAL??

A pencil sketch of John le Carré with a brow so heavy it makes the Easter Island Heads look like eggs.

Therapist: Frontspiece John le Carré isn't real, he can't hurt you.
Frontspiece John le Carré:

The Eiger Sanction by Trevanian (real name Rodney William Whitaker. The Trevanian name was at one time believed to be Robert Ludlum, or even a committee of revolving authors. His real identity was kept secret) The artist has depicted an almost featureless face hidden in shadow.

The one for Trevanian is absurd.

The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall. Portrait shows a middle-aged white man smoking a pipe. The author’s real name is Elleston Trevor.

Goldfinger by Ian Fleming. The portrait shows a middle-aged white man in a bow-tie.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré (real name David Cornwell) The portrait shows a frankly terrifying, heavy-browed head floating in the centre of the page.

The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. The portrait shows a middle-aged white man in a turtleneck.

It’s been a barren season for interesting book donations, but yesterday a bunch of those leatherbound ‘retirement home’ hardbacks came in, with these frontspiece portraits of various thriller authors.

drawing of orange apples on a tree

good apple year

So now that it’s confirmed that none of the messages on the bullets were pro-trans, maybe we should have a national conversation about how multiple newspapers repeated a lie about us on their front pages hours after doubts had already been cast over it?

two zardoz heads on the bonnet of a scrapped car

Photo of a missing slice of cheesecake that looks like a cheesecake hull floating in a deep blue ocean. The "ocean" is actually the blueberry topping on the large cheesecake that we don't see completely.

All I saw was cheesecake boat and ocean for at least 5 minutes

A screenshot from the NCIS Wikipedia page. It says: Six television series make up the NCIS franchise: NCIS, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Hawaii, Sydney, and Origins. All series in total amount to 1,055 episodes across 49 seasons of television. The main NCIS series, which is the longest-running show of the franchise, premiered its twenty-second season on October 14, 2024.

Who is committing all these Naval Crimes? How are Naval Crimes so prolific? Are the Naval Crime stats being fluffed up somehow for bigger Naval Crimes budgets? (Should I be pitching NCIS:IA with that exact premise?)

🏅The #britishpodcastawards2025 is taking place at the 02 on 2nd October, and we've got some great projects in the mix:

#theskewer
Money Gone
Strangers on a Bench
Jon Holmes Says The C Word

👋 Congrats to all nominees! We can't wait to see you there.

Compo, Clegg and Foggy at the 1984 Royal Variety Performance.

Camille Pissarro 1830-1903 Fox Hill, Upper Norwood 1870 As a watery sun shines through the clouds, two women and a man walk through the thawing snow on Fox Hill, Upper Norwood. This is one of 12 paintings Pissarro made of south London, near where he was living. Like Monet, he had fled the Franco-Prussian War in December 1870. Given its small size, Pissarro probably painted the work on site. Oil on canvas.

Camille Pissarro 1830-1903 The Avenue, Sydenham 1871 People stroll along Lawrie Park Avenue, Sydenham. The church of St Bartholomew is in the distance. The picture was painted shortly before Pissarro's return to France in spring 1871. Although he made a preparatory watercolour outdoors, much of this work was made in his studio. At a late stage, he painted over the female figure still just visible on the right-hand pavement. Oil on canvas.

I was excited to see Norwood and Sydenham represented at The National Gallery. Pissarro, no less. I had no idea. I cycle past that church on my way to get fancy cheeses.

Golden Harvest

The Cannon Group

Orion Pictures

Shaw Brothers

the holy logos

From Animage magazine (november 1985) :
Masayuki (22 years old) of Studio Giants is in charge of all key animations.
He also did the storyboard.
There are around 1,500 cels for 75 seconds.
kenshoanime.blogspot.com/2019/07/blog...

This sounds wacky but it is backed up by science.

THE CAT CONCERTO ON BLU-RAY

(and Mice Follies, and Dr Jekyll and Mr Mouse, and The Flying Cat, and Jerry’s Cousin, and…)

Yup. I think they’re going for a ten year old’s perfect crime logic ‘I didn’t write it, IT’S TYPED. So I wasn’t lying. Checkmate, set and match, your honour.’

Sandie Shaw sits with a leg over the arm of her chair on the cover of MESSAGE UNDERSTOOD Sandie Shaw has her hair worn up and looks pensive, resting her chin on her folded arms, on the cover of HOW CAN YOU TELL?

Sandie Shaw smiles at you on the cover of LONDON by Chris Andrews.

Sandie Shaw holds him thumb to her lips on the cover of TONIGHT IN TOKYO. She’s flanked by two crudely drawn dragons.

Today’s donations: dozens of lyric sheets, seemingly pilfered from the BBC TELEVISION MUSIC LIBRARY. Highlights include these Sandie Shaw ones that look like she was the main PI in a series of racy detective novels.

“Okay. Listen. When we shoot it, leave the tray on his desk, don’t take it with you. I’d like to try something.”

‘Paddington in Peru’ Writers Reunite for AI Animated Feature ‘Critterz’ From Vertigo Films, Native Foreign (EXCLUSIVE) Vertigo Films 'Critterz' is the feature-length adaptation of the short, which combined visuals generated by OpenAI with traditional animation

If you’re a writer who regularly works with animators, why would you work on a project designed to put most of them out of a job? Did you not like the ones you met?

variety.com/2025/film/gl...

“Okay. Listen. When we shoot it, leave the tray on his desk, don’t take it with you. I’d like to try something.”

(reading a book about movie fights and this still was in it)

ALSO I didn't know that Benny "the Jet" Urquidez trained Swayze for Road House, created a style based on how Swayze already moved, and set it to music to capitalize on Swayze's dance background, which is rad as heck.

Promotional still from EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE

Maybe because he feels so lean, I don't always think of Clint Eastwood as a physically imposing fella, but he's 6'4 and Jiminy Christmas, look at that arm, I sure don't want to get hit by him

I think TV shows should also have reshuffles. One arbitrary Friday they just decide to move Adam Woodyatt to be the new Jay Mitchell while someone else tries out being Ian Beale for a bit. Patsy Palmer is now Alfie Moon.

WHEN I WAS A CHILD. Barbara Windsor sits on a leather chair. She has furry collar and cuffs.

THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKIN’ Nancy Sinatra in leopard print coat and velvet boots.

STARTING TOGETHER. Sue Pollard grimaces. The border is green like an army tent.

I couldn’t take photos of them all. It would take the whole shift. I think we’ll probably list them online, instead of sell them in the shop. (Also I nabbed all three volumes of The Book of the Short Sun, but the covers are a bit naff.)

Mary Hopkin stares out at you through long golden hair, on the cover of GOODBYE. Words and Music by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Mary Hopkin strums a guitar on the cover of PUPPY SONG. Words and Music by NILSSON.

KEEP AWAY FROM OTHER GIRLS warns Helen Shapiro against a salmon pink background. She’s autographed it. ‘Love Helen Shapiro’

AS TEARS GO BY. And Marianne Faithfull’s face, framed by sky blue border. By Mick Jagger, Keith Richard and Andrew Loog Oldham.

I did work experience at the BBC Music Library. I photocopied the sheet music for A View To A Kill hoping my band would want to cover it (they didn’t). I also taped albums on my lunchbreak, including that great mid-90s compilation THIS IS EASY.

Anyway. Look! I think Helen Shapiro signed that one.

Sandie Shaw sits with a leg over the arm of her chair on the cover of MESSAGE UNDERSTOOD Sandie Shaw has her hair worn up and looks pensive, resting her chin on her folded arms, on the cover of HOW CAN YOU TELL?

Sandie Shaw smiles at you on the cover of LONDON by Chris Andrews.

Sandie Shaw holds him thumb to her lips on the cover of TONIGHT IN TOKYO. She’s flanked by two crudely drawn dragons.

Today’s donations: dozens of lyric sheets, seemingly pilfered from the BBC TELEVISION MUSIC LIBRARY. Highlights include these Sandie Shaw ones that look like she was the main PI in a series of racy detective novels.

My tin foil hat conspiracy is that studios are pushing this narrative to make it harder for VFX artists to unionize