Beelzebub's Broker

As this is the eve of my favourite festival and in the tradition of "Throwback Thursday"I thought I would re-visit an old nightmare and up-light the stage with the ghoul...

The ghoul ranks amongst the highest of the unreal terrors that haunted my childhood imagination. These grave-raiding spectral monsters seem to be the bestial vestige of the almost neutered vampire figure of today's popular media. However, unlike vampires, werewolves and ghosts, there isn't a linear line to trace its development through fiction. Its iconography has branched off in several different directions and I think we probably could do with a mainstream horror story focusing on a purer form of this monstrosity. The closest I have seen of this happening appears to be in the anime series, "Tokyo Ghoul".

It is common for generations of adults to complain about the violent content of children's fiction, but I pretty much learnt the bulk of my horror education back in the 1980s before I left primary school. In fact, I read about it in primary school! This terrifying poem by Jack Prelutsky was in a book of general children's poetry I bought from our school's Puffin Book Club. The humour is dark and unrelenting. There isn't even a moral core to the story that is often used to offset the grisly content or horrid fates of children in cautionary folk tales. Like the ghoul itself, the poem is relentless in its onward progression through horridness climaxing with a chilling enough thought to give a child nightmares for weeks to come. Is it any wonder that my generation easily lapped up Roald Dahl's contributions to children's fiction.

Like those other grisly man-eating creatures of mythology and folklore, the ogre and the troll, defining a ghoul is quite difficult. Zombies, for example, have been interchangeably described as ghouls due to their human devouring ways and association with graveyards. When George A. Romero reinvented the zombie in "Night of the Living Dead", his monsters were referred to as "ghouls". However, I would like to draw a firm geeky line, for the sake of clarification, between zombie and ghouls. The zombie might be a product of evil or the cause of evil, but he is either the slave of an evil sorcerer, as in Voodoo religion, or a reanimated corpse obeying a basic ravenous instinct. The ghoul is a malicious brand of demon that has its roots in Arabic folklore and is probably more comparable to the aforementioned European ogres.

I cannot remember the first time I encountered ghouls in stories. The same primary school also had a fully illustrated book of mythological creatures and the Arabic ghoul was mentioned. They dwell in uninhabited places, particularly burial grounds and are sometimes described as shape-shifters. Arabic ghouls most famously take on the form of the hunter and scavenger, the hyena. As a point of interesting coincidence, F.W. Murnau depicts his perhaps ghoulish-looking Count Orlock taking on the form of a spotted hyena as opposed to the wolf guise that Dracula acquires in the film's source material. It was that very same species of hyena that took a chunk out of my adolescent hand, so one might say that ghouls really did their marks on my childhood!

In his article for "Cultural Analysis", entitled "The Mythical Ghoul of Arabic Culture", Ahmed Al-Rawi traces the possible origins of the ghoul to pre-Islamic Arabs and their travels :

"In ancient Mesopotamia, there was a monster called 'Gallu' that could be regarded as one of the origins of the Arabic ghoul. Gallu was an Akkadian demon of the underworld 'responsible for the abduction of the vegetation-god Damuzi (Tammuz) to the realm of death' (Lindemans). Since Akkad and Sumer were very close to the Arabian deserts, Arab Bedouins in contact with Mesopotamian cultures could have borrowed the belief in the ghoul from the Akkadians."

These pre-Islamic ghouls were often described as female monsters who often preyed on travellers of the desert, as mischief makers and as deceitful abductors of children. Humans have a strong and inherent sense of protectiveness when it comes to children, and it would appear that our fear of a force harming them is partly manifested in the ghoul. Jack Prelutsky's modern poem appears to be reflecting a very ancient trait of this monster. Several anecdotes have survived where some Muslim scholars have argued that the Prophet Muhammad confirmed the existence of ghouls and they have remained apart of a lot of Islam culture. Ahmed Al-Rawi says:

"...according to the Prophet Muhammed, ghouls are the demons or enchantresses of genies that hurt human beings by eating or spoiling their food or by frightening travelers when they are in the wilderness. In order to avoid their harm, one can recite a verse from the Holy Quran or call for prayer since they hate any reference to God."

The oldest existing text featuring ghouls is "One Thousand and One Nights" and they are present in Islam. In "The Story of Prince Sayf Al-Muluk and the Princess Badi'a Al-Jamal" from "One Thousand and One Nights", a group of men are led into a cave by a deceptive ghoul, which they blind with a red hot rod. A man then strikes the creature across its waist, but it does not immediately kill the ghoul. The monster asks that it be struck again as an act of mercy, but the swordsman is immediately warned that a second strike will re-energize the creature. Apparently the idea that a ghoul must be slain by a single stroke, usually by a sword, has persisted through a lot of Arabic stories. Reciting the verses from The Holy Qua'ran, as advised by the Prophet Muhammad, and supplicating oneself to God are also methods used to drive away ghouls. "The History of Gherib and His Brother Agib" has Gherib being abducted by a ghoul, which he overcame and killed after praying to God. It also depicts the story of a prince who is able to enslave a family of hungry ghouls and convert them to Islam. It is interesting to note the humanoid qualities of the ghoul. How could this tribe of devils be converted to Islam if they weren't human in some way? Like the European ogre, it is often referred to as a cannibal, which would not be accurate if it was completely considered to be a different species. Al-Rawi mentions "a story cited by al-Aşbahânī and narrated by Zaid Bin A'slam" that features a female ghoul that is caught eating the liver of ill-fated traveller.

When the ghoul made its way into European folklore is unclear. However, it is perhaps telling that Willaim Beckford's Faustian Orientalist Gothic novel, "Vathek" was inspired by "One Thousand and One Nights" and describes a ghoul. Hans Christian Anderson's story of the "Wild Swans" is the story of a princess who has to gather stinging nettles from a graveyard at night and then weave shirts for her bewitched brothers. During a time when she was gathering the nettles Anderson describes the following scene:

"Then she saw on one of the broad tombstones a group of ghouls. These hideous creatures took off their rags, as if they intended to bathe, and then clawing open the fresh graves with their long, skinny fingers, pulled out the dead bodies and ate the flesh! Eliza had to pass close by them, and they fixed their wicked glances upon her, but she prayed silently, gathered the burning nettles, and carried them home with her to the castle."

Ghouls cropped up in the works of various European and American Gothic writers, eventually making their way into films in one way or another. The 1933 adaptation of Frank King's novel, "The Ghoul" is more of an example of how loosely the term can be applied to non-supernatural humans. The unconnected 1975 film of the same name brings matters back to its oriental link, but retains the human idea. It features a man who after being converted to an evil Indian cult goes mad preys on human beings, slaughtering them and eating their flesh.

My first real introduction to ghouls came via the half-comic anthology horror, "The Monster Club". The final tale is the film's greatest piece. Looking back the false teeth exhibited by the ghouls in the story's final scene are probably a bit too comical, but the story is a truly menacing one. The ghouls occupy a hidden and mysterious village that a movie director stumbles upon when he is on a location hunt. The creeping fear of being besieged by the inhabitants of the story and their back-story regarding the raiding of graves are quite horrific. In an interesting twist on ancient ghouls, there is a single good ghoul in the form of a young girl. In many ways, the story is a pure version of the Arabic legend and stands out from the rest of the film's campy elements.

Ghouls in human form live on in the form of grave-robbers and cannibals. Their crimes reinforce the horrors of mythology and tear apart our comfortable acceptance of every day life. From the crimes of Burke and Hare, who pretended they were body-snatchers but really murdered their quarry, to the murderer Ed Gein who dug up corpses for a variety of reasons, the ghoul haunts our history. Prior to them we had the legend of the cannibalistic Bean family, known as the Ghouls of Galloway. Their story was a work of fiction re-told as if it were real and to this day appears in some pulp non-fiction. Their legacy is in every example of a family that converges to kill. The ghoul haunts our view of our fellow humans and remind us that we are not so far away from the savage times that spawned the legend of the ghoul.

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

Cover of "The Monster Squad (Two-Disc 20t...

Cover via Amazon

This great little piece and listing from Empire magazine shows why many of my generation had such a dark childhood. The '70s and '80s were a quirky time for kids with many films precariously set between childish imaginings and adult violence. "The Monster Squad" was a 15 certificate horror comedy featuring the Universal Studios group monster favourites being battled by a bunch of children. The film featured adult humour, including the revelation that "Wolfman has nards!", and a fair bit of gore too. "Robocop" was not a horror movie, but it wasn't really a superhero movie either. It was an 18 certificate dark satire about consumerism and capitalism, where everything had a price, but it was marketed at children with action figures and toys associated with the movie on sale in time for its release. Its sequel also bore an 18 certificate and was even darker, but eventually we had children's cartoon series.

My generation of children were hugely disappointed by the decision that "Gremlins" would bear a 15 certificate, as we all got the read along cassettes and action figures that Christmas. It was a debate that would resurface with Tim Burton's "Batman" (which would bear the new 12 certificate, but be released as a 15 certificate on video) and later Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" (which would bear the new 12a certificate).

I guess we shouldn't really be surprised. Horror speaks to the child in us all. It shakes us up with thoughts of anarchy and chaos, and regresses us back to the fearful sense of vulnerability that we associate with being a child. Most horror ideas can be found in traditional folk tales that have been turned into children's fairy tales. A perusal of world fairy tales reveals all manner of horrible monsters as well as acts of morbid acts of violence

Anyway, please see below the link to this very enjoyable line-up. I know that several of the films listed I count amongst my all-time favourite movies.

"Eight Family Films Are Actually Really Horrors"

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

The Blooded Lens Filter

Distorting Horror Fiction through Cinema (Part 1)

In time for Halloween I thought I would have a little look at the way horror cinema has changed the way we view certain horror icons. Despite there being undeniable original horror movie classics created through the dark genius of great filmmakers like Wes Craven, Dario Agento and Tobe Hooper, a good number of great films have their basis in literature. It’s a great source. Many early “talkies” resemble stage plays because that is exactly what they were. Often these stage plays were based on classic novels. To this day there is a strong relationship between the bestselling novelist and the movie producer. Many book franchises from Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lector series to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series to George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” saga have been written as their filmic adaptations have been in progress. It is often interesting to see how much the two mediums will still diverge in their depictions of characters and events, and how much the adaptation will have an influence over future instalments of the literary franchise. The moving image is overwhelmingly more powerful in conveying a concept than the written word, so if a filmmaker distorts something he can overwrite an entire mythology. Here are a few examples from the world of horror.

Sweeney Todd

The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was created in a series of “penny dreadful” stories originally titled “The String of Pearls: A Romance” from 1846-1847. The author of this series, which has since been compiled into a novel and plagiarized several times, is as mysterious as the source of the story's inspiration. James Malcolm Rymer is a hot contender or the master penny dreadful publisher himself, Thomas Peckett Prest. This protracted tale cast Todd as an irredeemable and unsympathetic murderer who kills in order to rob his victims and then sends their corpses to Mrs Lovett’s Pie Shop to be made into meat pies. He is described as hideous in appearance with a ridiculously large mop of hair that keeps various combs in and maybe even his scissors. He has oversized hand and feet, and a terrible laugh. Few, if any films or subsequent plays have visually depicted Todd as he is described in the anonymously written original serial. Thanks to Christopher Bond’s 1973 play, which became the basis for the 1979 musical, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”, Todd became an anti-hero.

Another regular departure we have seen that contradicts the source material is Todd’s slitting of his victims’ throats as they lay back his barber chair. Todd then pulls a secret lever, which tips his hapless prey down a trapdoor into his cellar. In the original story, Todd pulled the lever first sending his ill-fated customer on his way to a crushed skull and/or broken neck. If they were still alive, Todd would slit their throats with his straight razor. This is where his “polish them off” catchphrase comes from and the whole process makes sense. If Todd had such a contraption installed why would he bother slitting their throats and causing an unnecessary mess in his shop? True, he could have easily justified the blood spatter by the nature of his job, which in the 19^th century meant he was expected to do basic surgical work as well as cutting hair and shaving faces, but it still doesn’t seem as efficient as the original method. Nevertheless, the image of Sweeney Todd slitting the throat of a victim as they lie back in his murderously reclining chair is as much as hallmark of the mythology now and the contradictory “polish him off” phrase.

Vampires

Recently I put together a makeshift vampire costume for my daughter's Halloween themed birthday party. I wore various items of clichéd clothing that have come represent the stereotypical image we have of the vampire, mainly influenced by Dracula. The costume consisted of a black red lined cloak, elongated canine fangs, pale face make-up, bloody lipstick, a frilly Regency era shirt, a medallion, black trousers, black shoes and my hair greased back into its natural widow's peak. As I write this I reflect on how much of that costume has its origins in film.

Vampires have been through a lot of filters and their image has mutated all the way to the cinema screen. They arrived as seductive, neck-biting, blood-drinking and occasionally shape-shifting aristocrats having been made that way by Dr John William Polidori, James Malcolm Rymer, Sheridan Le Fanu and, of course, Bram Stoker. Prior to this they had been disgusting bestial revenants of European folklore who often bit their victims in the chest and were more comparable to the ugly grave-feasting ghouls of middle-eastern mythology. However, despite these works of classic literature and a select few aspects of folklore being a rich source for 20th and 21st century depictions of vampires, film almost immediately made a huge impact on shaping vampires to today's most recognizable iconography.

Besides the non-supernatural femme fatal "vamp" of 1913's "The Vampire" and the 1921 delusional asylum inmate of "Dracula's Death", the first real vampire movie was F.W. Murnau's expressionist masterpiece, "Nosferatu", an unauthorized of Stoker's seminal work, "Dracula". Stoker's villain would remain the world's most famous vampire with depictions ranging wildly from the original text. Murnau's Orlock gave us a lanky bald-headed rodent looking image of a vampire who sported incisor fangs. A limited number of vampires have adopted this look. The Count Dracula of Werner Herzog's art house tribute movie of 1979, "Nosferatu the Vampire", is faithful to the original Count Orlock design. Producer Richard Kobritz directly referenced the look in his depiction of "The Master Vampire", Kurt Barlow, in the Tobe Hooper directed TV adaptation of Stephen King's "Salem's Lot". Barlow is referred to as "The Master" and it is interesting to note that the super-vampire of the "Buffy the Vampire" TV series is simply known as "The Master" and also resembles Marnau's Count Orlock. The reapers of the horror action movie, "Blade 2" also have a passing resemblance to this style of vampire. However, in the main this is not the prevailing view of the vampire. The biggest contribution"Nosferatu" has made to vampire lore is the idea that a vampire can be killed by sunlight. Orlock's disintegration as the sun streams through the window was so influential and has become such a staple of vampire mythology that many are surprised to discover that prior to Murnau's film, Vampires had little trouble with daylight. Even the Dracula of Stoker's original novel goes out in the day.

The iconic vampire cape, which is often used to reference and sometimes turn into the wings of a bat, possibly made its first appearance on the shoulders of Edmund Blake when he played Dracula in the 1924 Hamilton Deane play, "Dracula" in Derby, The play won acclaim later that year when it made it to London this time with Raymond Huntley taking on role and the cape. When it made it to Broadway in 1927, John L. Balderston revised Deane's script and Bela Lugosi famously stepped into the cape. He would reprise the role in Tod Browning's 1931 "talkie" and cement the image of a Hungarian accented tuxedo wearing, caped vampire with a medallion around his neck and sporting a widow's peak. The medallion's inclusion is still something of a mystery and it might have been Lugosi's personal contribution to the look. It remains a fixture, as seen in many a standard Halloween vampire costume. Famed Universal Studios make-up artist, Jack Pierce is responsible for giving both Lugosi and Carlos Villarias (who played Dracula in the Spanish version of Browning's film) widow's peaks, a signature of his quirky and unique designs for characters.

The peak reappeared along with Deane's cape Murnau's death by sunlight in Hammer Film's "Dracula" in 1958. The film reinforced several cinematic vampire myths and popularized the fanged canines as a fixture of the vampire icon. Curiously literature is not very specific in its descriptions of vampire teeth. We know they are sharp, large and white. Sheridan Le Fanu describes as resembling that of a fish in his novella, "Camilla". Orlock's fangs, as we have mentioned, were incisors. Lon Chaney Snr in 1927's "London After Midnight" might have used animal teeth as part of his fake vampire disguise, but these were rows of jagged teeth and not specifically the canines. It wasn't until the 1950s that film-makers decided to go with the mammalian aspect of the vampire, possibly the wolf or the bat, and have vampires sport elongated canines. However, it is worth mentioning that Christopher Lee may have popularized them, making them an key part of the popular image of the vampire, but it was a little known Turkish film, "Drakula Istanbulda" ("Dracula in Istanbul"), that first revealed the canine fangs. Atif Kaptan played the role of Dracula. Although the film is based on the novel, "Impaler Voivode" by the Turkish historian, poet and novelist, Ali Riza Seyfi. The novel is heavily based on Stoker's story to the point that is described as a translation of Stoker's work, but there are a few changes. Besides eliminating the Renfield character and turning the Mina character into a showgirl, the story makes a more explicit connection with the historical Dracula, Vlad Tepes (Vlad III). This would make it the first film to make this connection, pre-empting Francis Ford Coppola by almost half a century when the trend to connect Stoker's fictitious vampire and his vague medieval despotic inspiration has become a common staple of vampire mythology.

To be continued...

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

Melvyn Bragg has earned himself the rare distinction of being a true celebrity academic in modern times. His achievements are vast and impressive. His career got off the ground as a successful novelist in the 1960s and he has gone onto win several critical awards up until the late 1990s. I grew up seeing him as the presenter with the peculiar nasally voice, regularly lampooned by the satirical puppet show Spitting Image, who hosted The South Bank Show. Bragg had a reputation for arts and culture, but I later discovered he was a huge driving force behind science in the Radio 4 programme, In Our Time, which he took over hosting and currently still presents. The show presents itself as a history programme with Bragg hosting or, to be more accurate, chairing a panel of university lecturers on a particular event or person from history. However, in line with Eleanor Roosevelt’s regular quote regarding small minds discussing people and medium minds discussing events, the listener quickly discovers the strength in the show is its exploration of ideas. Bragg does well to keep the discussing going along certain channels and even testing certain arguments with the impartial view his role demands. Such a role reveals a broad yet in depth understanding of a vast array of subjects that straddle the worlds of imagination and fact-finding. As a fellow writer that does not like to be confined to a narrow path, I find it is truly inspiring to see now that his published work includes a wide range of subjects in both fiction and non-fiction. Therefore, I shouldn’t have really been surprised to see the hugely disparate selection of books he chose for 12 Books That Changed the World.

In order of contents the has individual chapters on Principia Mathematica, Married Love, Magna Carta, The Rule Book of Association Football, On the Origin of the Species, On the Abolition of the Slave Trade, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Experimental Researches in Electricity, Patent Specification for Arkwright’s Spinning Machine, The King James Bible, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations and William Shakespeare’s First Folio. Each work is given a description of its history, development and its impact on the world.

The first thing most literary fans will notice is the fact that Shakespeare’s entry is the only fictional tome on the list. Those who are aware of all the choices listed will note that several stretch the definition of what actually constitutes a book. On the Abolition of the Slave Trade is really just a speech, Magna Carta is a type of contract and Patent Specifications for Arkwright’s Spinning Machine is a type of legal legislation. Furthermore, all the chosen works are English in origin. I guess calling his book 12 English Works of Literature That Changed the World doesn’t have the same ring. After all, despite a lot of the dry material covered and Bragg’s refusal to patronize his reader, this is clearly a work aimed at a lay audience.

The book, as a whole, makes for an interesting read. This is, in part, due to Bragg’s sometimes eccentric justification for his selection. For example, I am still not convinced by the inclusion of The Rule Book of Association Football other than for the sake of variety, but I still found it to be one of the most interesting chapters despite not being a football fan. This might be down to Bragg’s own considerable literary ability and knowledge of history. We are therefore not left with a list of works that are the best representations of English language in written form, but sometimes important events in history that happened to be recorded in words. This is certainly the case with Patent Specification for Arkwright’s Spinning Machine, Magna Carta and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. However, when we come to Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, the King James Bible and the only fictional work – the book Bragg argues is the most influential on his list – Shakespeare’s First Folio we have clear examples of the impact of language.

Certainly the content of Wollstonecraft’s work is significant and has immense philosophical influence. However, her rhetorical style was not an insignificant part of its appeal. The King James Bible, as Bragg points out was not the first example of biblical text written in English. The changes made in the text from the previous bibles have helped significantly change the way a lot of scripture is quoted. It could also be debated that these changes have helped shape all interpretations since the bible’s publication. And yet this is a translation and not really an example of original English literature. Finally, Shakespeare’s work is all about the language. Many modern day students will read the Old English Beowulf and the Middle English of Chaucer without fearing to lose the original works’ significance. However, Shakespeare must be understood in its original language. Bragg putts it that before Shakespeare’s material started gaining fame the English language was poor compared with many of its European neighbours. The Bard’s phrases, metaphors and vocabulary raised the status of his native tongue, and established his own reputation as history’s greatest writer. I find it hard to disagree with Bragg’s inclusion and argument here, but it seems a little at odds with the rest of the list.

So, there is a little bit of confusion and contradiction in the list of texts here. The criterion is not really very clear or, at least, when Bragg states it he really doesn’t keep to it. This doesn’t stop it from being a very good read. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who would like to indulge in a broad interest of historical subjects from the 1600s to the 1800s. The author’s style is as entertaining as the programmes he has co-created and the information contained in each chapter provides some very interesting insights into history.

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

There have been many stunning documentaries. However, there have also been many shockingly inaccurate and misleading documentaries. Michael Moore is probably partly responsible for the rise in partisan documentary films. I am not against the concept in principle, although I often wonder if such films should just be categorized under the label "propaganda" and they be reviewed as such. Nevertheless, there are certainly a good number of opportunities we should afford people to give their personal insights and reflections on important issues and I don't want to deny anyone that freedom. Docufiction is an interesting way to explore certain ideas and I think we have to respect it as its own genre. When it comes to art, I am opposed to most censorship, but when it comes to delivering something that is supposed to be factual the line has been firmly crossed between personal expression and simply misleading your viewers.

Below are a list of six documentaries that profess to show the truth, are widely cited and they have had direct influence on many people, including future documentary makers. They often present popular ideas that we intuitively want to believe, will reinforce our own biases and sit nicely with our pattern-seeking minds, but they are being deceptive. I think a core discipline of critical thinking is the ability to accept not all arguments on your side of the issue are good ones. I love this quote from the below article from Cracked.com "...if you think something is bullshit, the answer is not more bullshit." So, you might not have been a fan of the Bush administration or Blair's premiership and you might have been opposed to the invasion of Iraq and/or Afghanistan, but that doesn't mean you have to automatically believe every crazy conspiracy theory put forward. It's like being opposed to Hitler and his philosophy, but then saying he hated dogs. In this respect partisan documentaries can be very insidious, especially as they readily borrow so many of the techniques that have made normal fictional feature films so attractive.

"6 Famous Documentaries That Were Shockingly Full of Crap"

The 2000s saw the rise of quality of TV drama. Looking back to the previous decade it was inevitable that this was going to happen and I aim to discuss the matter in an essay on subject. However, for the purposes of this review we find “Gunpowder, Treason and Plot” riding on the wave of historical dramas with rising budgets. The US were already investing in collaborative efforts in Europe that would see series like “Rome” break new ground in terms of mainstream adult-orientated historical drama.

“Gunpowder, Treason and Plot” was a two-part TV production made for the BBC by a key Scottish crew, including Gillies MacKinnon as director. It exhibited a lot of what was to come, but still retained certain elements from the previous era. Jimmy McGovern, creator the critically acclaimed crime series, “Cracker”, wrote the screenplay. For the most part, he does a decent job framing a complex story and takes some original angles with historical characters. He also clearly had his eye on the changing face of historical dramas for an adult audience. The violence and sex scenes, although not gratuitous, ensured a wider audience. Whilst the story featured complex characters played by the principal cast. We are not relegated to a limited number of unconvincing studio sets either. Instead the entire production was shot in Romania and it convincingly recreates Scotland and England. The audience gets a real feel of scope that many previous history-based BBC productions were missing. A peculiar quirk that seems to have bene left over from the past is the peculiar decision to break the fourth wall a couple of times in the second episode. This is done to reveal the
motivations of zealots on either side of the Catholic and Protestant battle. It feels like an educational device and feels out of place in a melodrama, which takes large liberties with the past. Such concepts, unless they are justifiable soliloquys, really should have been relegated to the realm of documentary drama. Otherwise they just serve to remind us of the stagey-feel of the old BBC dramas.
The two-part mini-series takes the rather peculiar step of setting the two episodes widely apart time-wise. The first episode centres on the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots played by French actress, Clémence Poésy, who affects a bizarre and rather irritating accent throughout. It’s unfortunate, as besides this point she is very convincing in portraying her character. I appreciate the justification for her casting might be down to the time Mary spent in France and a lot of the story revolves on her winning acceptance from her Scottish subjects having just come back from France to take her throne. However, tell me if you don’t wince every time she says the words “my child”. She says it quite a lot too.

The events of the first episode revolve around the machinations of Mary’s scheming brother and her unhappy relationship with her second husband, Henry Stuart, played by Paul Nicholls, and her love affair with the Earl of Bothwell, played by the up-and-coming Scottish actor, Kevin McKidd. McKidd, who would take the lead in the lavish “Rome” the following year, plays Bothwell as a rough-edged yet courageous Byronic hero who is devoted to Mary. The scheming around Mary and her portrayal as a far stronger personality than she is often depicted makes for a rip-roaring yarn in the modern form and I applaud McGovern’s decision not to go over the predictable story of events that result in her execution, but this viewer was a bit confused with how tenuous this all links in with series title.

Robert Carlyle’s portrayal of James I in the second episode somewhat resembles a Shakespearean Richard III. He is depicted as a limping and misshapen villain. A key difference between the two characters being that this production has James as a man susceptible to influence by his wife, played by Sira Stampe, and Robert Cecil, played by Tim McInnerny. Remembered fondly as Lord Percy and Captain Darling from the “Blackadder” series, I have a lot of time for McInnerny’s work. Here he gets to play the Machiavellian villain, moving James to persecute the Catholics.

Nevertheless, having James’s evil directed by others is a peculiar decision given that there is not a lot of historical evidence to show that James was anything but his own man. Carlyle plays his role with a combination of spite, coldness and greed. Keeping a modern day audience interested and somewhat titillated, his then taboo homosexuality is shown. However, there is none of his other passions, including his strong scholarly persuasions and obsessions with witch-hunting, on display. Carlyle portrayal keeps the opportunism, but neglects any of his intellectual side.

Both episodes share similar themes regarding power and there is a clear intended juxtaposition between Mary’s reign in Scotland and James’s reign in England, which is probably part of the reason why there was such a time-gap between their respective episodes. We see the roles not only of the monarchs, but those around them. Both Mary and James are manipulated by their advisors, and their personalities determine their individual outcomes. This makes for an interesting idea and the programme would probably have been better marketed on this concept than a story based around the Gunpowder Plot. Nevertheless, I feel the two solid if slightly uneven episodes makes for a more substantial historical melodrama than the strung out and protracted “Great Fire” series that was released in 2014.
Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

“Remember, remember the 5^th November. Gunpowder, treason and plot”

Okay, it’s not the most original way to start a piece of writing, but I do like its ominous-sounding dramatic emphasis. The day the British changed a part of the Halloween celebration to celebrate the downfall of a Catholic terrorist attack against a Protestant King and his establishment has long since lost most of its significance. The oldest living generations in Britain have lived under the shadow of terrorism for a long time now. Many of us were alive when there was another attempt to blow up the head of our country. More of us were alive when various far larger scale terrorist attacks occurred, which rocked the global community in so many ways as to define post 2001 cultural ideas. This has led us to look at the broader view of terrorism and its many complexities. History also tells us that although the Catholics in question were fanatical, James I and his regime were far from a magnanimous example of religious tolerance.

I like Halloween, but besides entertaining my daughter now with the feeling of an event and the singular memory of visiting my grandparents’ house where they put on big party, I don’t have a lot of fondness for the occasion. It seems lack any sort of salvageable substance as a ritual and there is little in it that is really any different from other occasions. We light bonfires, as we did long before Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators were foiled, and we let off the Chinese invention of fireworks. My secondary school was Quaker and for the majority of my time there, our headmaster was Jewish, which pretty much ended any question of burning a “Guy” effigy. My school did consent to have a bonfire party, but I only ever attended one. Having said all that, I am an unashamed history geek and therefore would be wary about forgetting this particular date.

The events leading up to the “Gunpowder Plot” had been around for centuries and would persist for centuries to come. Our most modern example can be found in Northern Ireland where Catholic and Protestant Christian divisions run deep. The whole issue has often been a complex one. For example, Henry VIII may have initiated the creation of the Church of Englandand split his rule from Rome, but he remained a Catholic throughout his life. His daughter, “Bloody” Mary, earned herself a legendary reputation for oppressing Protestants. She was a far better ruler than she was given credit for, but that is another matter altogether. Her succeeding sister, Elizabeth, showed more tolerance to both sides, but certainly had to deal with her fair share of rebellions. She signed the death warrant of her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, after imprisoning her for 11 years, for her supposed role in mounting a Catholic/French conspiracy. Mary was probably little more than a figure head for this campaign and she had spent the majority of her time in Britain being used as a pawn for the ambitions of men.

The double twist in the tale came in the form of James Stewart who became James VI Scotland and James I of England, uniting two neighbouring countries that had fought many a bitter war. The first twist went to Elizabeth, as the “Virgin” queen had produced no heirs and was succeeded by the son of the woman she had had executed. The second twist was for those who had seen Mary Stewart as the saviour of the Catholic faith. James I was a devout Protestant in the mould that would be upheld by the Puritans of the future.

Looking at James I, the target of Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators, we see an educated man who was both opportunistic and very religious. As it was his men who discovered the plot, he was not only able to preserve his own life but was also in a position to take advantage of the collective gratitude of his peers and lever his own political agenda. James often entered into conflict with Parliament and this event, which became the cause of national celebration, gave him a huge popular advantage. The extent of his own brand of religious zealotry and education can be seen in the literature he had published during his reign. His book, “Daemonologie” would help form the academic backbone of witch-hunt and demonology. The witch finders that would initiate the persecution, torture and execution of innocent people over that particular century, including those carried out by the infamous Witch Finder GeneralMatthew Hopkins during the English Civil War years and those carried out under the Calvinist Puritanism in America, are all part of James I’s legacy. Obviously James was also responsible for putting in writing his own views on how a monarch should rule and he authorized the world’s most influential English translation of the Holy Bible.

Looking at the actual Gunpowder Plot we can see a good historical example of how a genuine political conspiracy works and the reason why they are often foiled. That, on its own, is a good enough reason to remember and study this episode from history. Humans repeat patterns and history, with good rational insight, allows us to see how we operate. Even with a relatively small group of people, the Gunpowder Plot failed because at least one of the conspirators spoke outside of the group. A conspiracy is as strong as its weakest member. Secrets that affect large numbers of people do not remain secrets for long. The Gunpowder Plot was meticulously planned and driven by intelligent and capable men of passion. However, life rarely runs completely in such an orderly fashion. This is something that your average conspiracy theorist has trouble understanding.

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

I grew up loving superheroes. The majority of my childhood was spent wanting to be a costumed defender of justice. American superheroes invaded my life since my visit to Florida in 1980. After that I consumed whatever comic-book I could get my hands on, eventually settling on a primary love of DC's Batman and Marvel's Spider-Man. Very mainstream, I know, but I guess that is just because both have a lot to say about the human condition. Nevertheless, there were other deviations and fascinations along the way. One muse I discovered when I was six years old came in the form of "The Leopard from Lime Street". The titular character was sometimes referred to as "Leopard Boy", probably due to his age, and occasionally as The Beast of Selbridge, which is probably a take on the Alien Big Cat urban myths that prevail around the English countryside. However, I mainly knew him as the Leopard Man. The character's origin was a blatant imitation of the Spider-Man story and some of his gadgetry, most notably his clawed leopard line, resembled items from Batman's utility belt arsenal, but he had many unique qualities too. So, a somewhat unbalanced merger of my two all-time favourite comic-book superheroes contained in the form of a relatable English school boy. Was it any wonder that it caught my imagination?

I stumbled across Leopard Man or Leopard Boy at the beginning of our season on Clacton Pier in 1982. To wax romantic, those were magical days for me. I spent a good amount of my summer exploring the pier and all its amusements. Even without money, it was a labyrinth of adventure for me. I remember the smell of the baked potato stall, and the noise and flashing animation of the alluring arcade machines. Mint Chocolate Chip Cornettos were officially my favourite ice cream by then, but I also recall being drawn to the Dracula shaped blood-red lollies that seemed to be all the rage at the time. That might have something of foreshadow of my interest in horror stories and films that came the following year. Although Blondie's cover of "The Tide is High" had been released two years previously, it is a song that often reminds of being on the show. I guess it was fairly appropriate too given my location. I lost a milk tooth on the pier and one stage I caught a skin disease from some adventure or other. If I wasn't playing with other circus children on the pier or off exploring on my own, I was back at the caravan site on similar missions. We lived amongst a tight community of people that looked out and after their young, allowing more freedom than I could ever allow my daughter. I went to school too, of course, and this was my penultimate one before I settled at the same primary school that my daughter would end up attending.

Our show would begin with a fakir act presented by Mr Swing out front of the show, made all the more thrilling by the fact the artiste had to go to hospital after one performance, and inside show we presented our variety of acts. These included my father's wild animal acts and my mother's dog act as well as aerialists, tumblers, jugglers and my cousin, Tom Fossett, the great clown Professor Grimble. Our circus had ceased touring - what we used to call "tenting" - and we started taking seasonal bookings in buildings. Prior to this we only took these types of booking at Christmas, which is an age old tradition in circus. From no one, however, these bookings would see the last days of parents show and my life as a circus child. A spent a good deal of them - especially that summer - in superhero costumes. That year I began in a Superman outfit, had a Batman sleeveless top and winged cap, and spent a good amount of time in my Spider-Man play-suit often accompanied by a pair of shades. However, when we left Clacton what I really wanted was a Leopard Man costume. They did not exist. It would take my dear mother to find a child's cat costume pattern and some leopard print material for that treasured garment to materialize. The story's hero, Billy Farmer, also had to ad-lib with his own costume twice. First by adapting a Dick Wittington's cat costume and later by using a leopard skin rug he found on market stall. Looking back, I have never experienced so much freedom in my life as I did back during that time - prowling around in my six year old mind as Leopard Man.

Leopard Man was created for Buster comic in 1976 and was serialized in its pages until 1985. The story's lead character, Billy Farmer, is a 13 year old resident of the fictional town of Selbridge. Like Peter Parker, he is an orphan, a talented photographer who sells his photos to an antagonistic newspaper editor, Thaddeus Clegg) and is an exceptionally intelligent youngster. He also shares Parker's fate of being the target of bullies. However, from the first comic-strip onwards Farmer's bullies appeared to be more physical than Parker's and, on top of that, he didn't even have a kindly uncle. Billy Farmer's Uncle Charlie was an abusive bully, which gave the story a darker edge of sorts. His Aunt Joan, although kindly, is even frailer Peter Parker's Aunt May. Continuing the Spider-Man similarity, Farmer gains his powers after being mauled by a radioactive leopard and then makes the obvious super-hero decision to fight crime.

Being a traditional circus, we raised wild animals. If the parents rejected their offspring for some reason, we raised them in our living wagon. I have often referred to my upbringing as somewhat resembling Mowgli's from the Kipling's "Jungle Books", as I was an only child living with wild animal cubs. Around the time I discovered "The Leopard from Lime Street", I had fresh memories of mum raising a leopard cub and speculated that a playful bite from it might have infused me with feline powers!

The strip was created by writer, Tom Tully and mainly illustrated by Mike Western. Although the sources for Tully's ideas on Billy Farmer's back-story are very obvious, the stories were quite different. After reading another person's edition of Buster, I got my first copy at the beginning of a tail where Leopard Man lost his costume. Unlike the common comic-book cliché of killing off character in order to preposterously resurrect them, we were all in on Leopard Man's apparent "death" and the story that followed made for quite a saga. Losing his mask whilst rescuing passengers from a truck, the Leopard man hides inside the vehicle shortly before it falls to its doom. He decides to leave his costume inside the truck as the gathered crowd would be looking out for an unmasked leopard man and would somehow not spot a skinny 13 year somersaulting out the other end of the vehicle in just his underpants. Cue me trying to recreate the story with my Spider-Man play suit and getting scalded for risking losing it by my long suffering mother.

After the remains of the costume are found in the exploded truck, it is assumed by everyone present that Leopard Man is dead. Farmer, suffering similar mortal limitations as Spider-Man, cannot afford to replace the costume and has to assume other aliases until he finds a means to make a new costume. Meanwhile a new villain takes the streets, calling himself "The Ghost of Leopard Man". He walks on air and can do various other apparently supernatural things. Eventually Farmer sees a leopard rug on a fair market stall. He combines his humble earnings with cash prizes he wins using his leopard powers of superhuman strength and speed to buy the rug, which is converted into his new costume. He then tracks down the "Ghost", uncovering most of the tricks he has used to create the illusion. The story's strength was in the way it maintained interest for many issues without actually featuring Leopard Man. This is a trick that has evolved throughout the fantasy genre. The object of the true fantasy craftsman is the ability to suspend belief.

Stephen King gives credit to the authors who can sew a relate-able and commonplace world with the uncanny. Some of my favourite examples of this genre are true experts in achieving this skill. Emily Bronte was a master in the way she used the tools of the Gothic in "Wuthering Heights". George R. R. Martin goes so far as having characters that are so engaging, intriguing and fascinatingly complex that you are not waiting for the next fantastical element to happen. The TV series, "Gotham" really seems to have got this idea of the working the "slow-burn" effectively by carefully building up a world that could plausibly create a Batman character. Unfortunately there are plenty of examples of this going wrong too. The first film version of Captain America was a feature length bore-fest with a meandering and dragging story that resulted in a small and unsatisfactory pay-off. The Captain didn't even get his proper costume until just before the closing credits.

Anyway, "The Leopard from Lime Street" was a shining example of how to maintain tension and build up a good story whilst not getting the reader too frustrated for the big pay-off. It also really made a difference to what would become greatest comic book bugbear, "The Comic-Book Death". Leopard Man would go through several developments, even becoming more aggressive. This trait, which was never rectified, as Billy Farmer grew canine fangs and appeared with luminous feline eyes, set him aside from many other superheroes of the 1980s. The abusive uncle angle was also never really dealt with and lent itself to the British Kitchen Sink Drama tradition of "Kes" and other downbeat children's fiction. Within its entire run the series also somehow staved off the need to create over the top other supernaturally empowered villains and interplanetary stories. This rare type of restraint really should be given more credit in the fantasy serial genre. With a few other noteworthy exceptions, "The Leopard from Lime Street" was dark children's entertainment before it was cool.

The last time I saw him was in the Buster Annual, where he was rescuing some leopard cubs. A version of him was apparently killed off in a "gathering of heroes" episode in 2000 AD's "Zenith". I will always remember Tom Tully's creation as another example of the creative Anglicization of a powerful US import. We saw how wonderfully this was done with Ray Galton and Alan Simpson's development of the US sit-com for a British audience.Tully took the story of Spider-Man and some attributes found in Batman, and applied them to the world of a 13 year old boy. Looking at the concept it could go quite a long way if it were turned into a novel of some sort, exploring the metaphors of adolescent changes in males. The increasing animalistic aggression Farmer would show in later episodes could be comparable with the burgeoning hormones in a teenage boy, as he asserts his place in the pecking order of society. His antagonism could be heightened by that very society. In the microcosm he has his abusive uncle, tyrannical boss and the school bullies. In the macrocosm he has his dour near destitute environment. Young Farmer was always struggling with finances. His eventual ambition was to be a reporter, but his childhood ambition was to make 25 pounds from his photos. Farmer couldn't even afford a replacement costume. How many superheroes have this problem? The story suffered to a certain degree in the same way as the penny dreadfuls suffered in the 19th century by drawing a tale out a little too far and inevitably creating a few plot holes and deviations that were never resolved.

However, for the most part the bullied youngster stands alongside the children of C.S. Lewis's Narnia and many other variations on this theme whereby he has secret and wondrous separate life. Billy Farmer's world tended to be accessed through his bedroom window (I always wanted the type of sliding window he had ever since I saw it in that comic-strip). In this world, he was a superhero that could go on many perilous adventures and often make it home for dinner. The bleakness of his own world and the fact that he was only 13 years old made the juxtaposition that much more magical. As I returned from our season in Clacton and we looked towards one final year of circus I would often find myself to be a loner at school and there was certainly something comforting in the world of Billy Farmer and his spotted alter-ego.

Recommended Links:

Bronze Age of Blogs discusses the Spider-Man template used in "The Leopard from Lime Street", including the very mortal clumsiness of Billy Farmer. Again, another thing I could relate to and still can, even now as an ex-performer and a martial arts teacher. The clumsy gene is always there ready to pounce like a... well, a leopard. The blog's author also muses on the 1980s downtrodden working class environment that Billy Farmer grew up in, which I think is a major difference with Peter Parker's more archetypical middle class lifestyle.

British Comic Art calls "The Leopard from Lime Street", "an interesting mix of Stan Lee and Charles Dickens",

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

Soho (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Colorfully painted shop windows in a typical Soho backstreet in London. Deutsch: Farbenfroh bemalte Schaufenster in einer für den Stadtteil Soho typischen Strasse in London. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change -”

― Heraclitus

Today The Guardian newspaper reflected on the apparent death knell of the old Soho. The revocation of Madame Jojo's licence after playing host to audiences for 50 years seems to establish the end of an era. The 20th century has seen the place be a hotbed of nefarious showbusiness activities, strip clubs and alternative entertainment. The alternative comedians that entertained me in my teens have Soho to thank for a lot their early employment. Similarly many of the truly diverse, influential and daring musical movements cut their teeth in this district. I do have some vague connections with this symbol of romantic sleeze in

Britain. One of the dancers for my Dead Souls act worked outside one of the numerous strip joints that promise a full show for just a tiny entrance fee, at the time it was as little as £5. Here naive voyeurs would find themselves sat at the table, below ground, in an often empty bar whereby they would face a list of extortionately priced drinks. Still thinking they were onto a good deal with a guaranteed dance, the voyeurs would order the cheapest beverages possible. They would then find themselves being charged with another much larger bill on top of the drinks as a type of service charge. Said dancer told me of the way many clients tried to make a dash for it, one individual was clearly so shook up by the whole situation that he used the sea cucumber technique and voided his bowels!

Soho's members-only Groucho Club, of course, takes its name from one of my favourite comedians and entertainers, the great Julius "Groucho" Marx of the Marx Brothers. His quote, which is verified in his autobiography, "Groucho and Me", goes along the lines of "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member" and was what inspired the owners to take his name. Started in 1984 The Groucho Club became the nightclub equivalent of the Bohemian Cafes of the turn of the 20th century, the concept being an alternative to stuffy gentlemen and political clubs that were situated nearby. The place paid host to a mixture of media types. As "Hello, I Must Be Going" shows, Groucho loved to host parties with fellow showbusiness types up until his death. I mention him and the club that bears his name mainly because it is an excuse to mention Groucho, but also to make another tenuous link to my culture. Groucho, after all, became a success through Vaudeville and closely associated with circus culture.

The British love their traditions and institutions. We love it so much that we often applaud and romanticize the tacky, the kitsch, the tasteless and the downright fraudulent if they last long enough to make an impression. Soho, a haunt of prostitutes at times and therefore serial killers, takes on a charm that is comparable with the criminal culture of the East End of London. Soho is the place that Paul Raymond, that real estate developer and publisher of soft-core pornographic magazines, built his empire with his famous "review bars". Being a good friend of Billy Smart Jnr and employer of several circus artistes at his clubs, Paul Raymond tenuously links my personal showbusiness culture to a world that was anything but family entertainment.

Raymond's influence over the district is undeniable. He had a huge flair for publicity stunts, starting with one involving Dennis Rosaire's lions, presented by Nicoli. The review featured topless girls, but it was an episode where Nicoli received a scratch off one of the lions that made the papers and inspired his penchant for creating publicity stunts.

I finish this post with a link to my review of "The Look of Love", the under-rated biopic of Paul Raymond, which starred Steve Coogan and also featured my father playing the "Nicoli" character.

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

Just prior to the release of what was supposed to be the final live action motion picture in the Star Wars franchise, the end of the third park of the prequel trilogy, "The Revenge of the Sith", I approached the martial arts magazine, "Martial Arts Illustrated" with an idea. In order to bolster sales for a magazine that had shown drastic decline in circulation I would write an shameless piece of self-indulgence linking Star Wars with martial arts. I like nothing better than linking two disparate passions and this was the perfect opportunity. I wrote regularly for the magazine at the time and would do for a further five years, so I was given the go ahead and I freely indulged.

I recently found my old article online on this site. The editor has done a very sound job in locating images to convey the obvious similarities between George Lucas's creations and the Asian martial arts, which I have reproduced here. In the wake of growing anticipation of the first third series of movies, I thought it was time I re-aired this piece.

Darth Vader's helmet design was clearly inspired by the medieval Japanese Samurai. Picture from Smick

"I admit that when one considers the usual theme of what we term a Martial Arts film. Lucas’s space opera is not the most obvious candidate in this genre. It has nothing to do with Asia , it doesn’t feature an illegal tournament, it’s not a cop film and there aren’t thin excuses thrown in to explain why guns are not used. In fact if one goes through the normal criteria again, the location is not even on this planet, the duels are incidental, law is not in the equation and guns are used regularly against the martial artist. Nevertheless, it is still a martial arts series epic through and through that was inspired by Martial Arts cinema and continues to inspire Martial Arts culture."

“Star Wars owes its approach Akira Kurosawa’s Samurai epics of the 1960s. Along with the Flash Gordon chapter plays of the 1950s, George Lucas took much of the plot for his original film, Star Wars IV: A New Hope from Akira Kurosawa’s 1962 feature, The Hidden Fortress. The Japanese film’s storyline centres on perilous quest involving Princess Yuki, her courageous Samurai protector, General Rokurota Makabe and two bumbling thieves. The princess and the warrior bodyguards have their obvious counterparts in the characters Princess Leia and the Jedi padawan (learner), Luke Skywalker. The two bickering buffoons who provide the film’s comic relief, are replaced by the two equally bickering droids C3PO and R2D2, who feature in every star wars film (in fact they are the only actors who appears in each instalment).”

“George Lucas draws heavily upon ideas from traditional martial arts in his original trilogy (episodes IV to VI). Amongst the myriad of futuristic space vehicles, gadgetry and multi-shaped aliens there are many prominent and typical martial art qualities represented in all of the films. Lucas’s early influence definitely comes from Japanese Samurai Culture. The pivotal character of the series, Darth Vader, wears a fearsome black helmet and mask clearly based on the shape of Samurai battle helmets. Luke Skywalker, in Episode IV (the first film), is decked out in a white tunic outfit and in Episode VI a black version of the outfit that resembles the dogis of traditional Japanese martial arts. Thw standard long robed uniform of the Jedi and their nemesis, the Sith, can be compared to the traditional Japanese kimino and hakama clothing often worn in the dojos of Aikido, traditional Ju Jutsu, Kendo, Iaido and so on.”

“Then – in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace– champion Wu Shu exponent Ray Park used his entertaining skills to take the battle to an entirely different level. Using the previously unseen double-ended light sabre, Park demonstrated far more than simple gymnastics and wire –assisted leaps in his portrayal of the dedicated Sith lord, Darth Maul, who became the face of the film’s publicity campaign. Park’s athletic ability embodied what George Lucas called the golden era of the Jedi. The British martial artist wielded the double-ended weapon like a Chinese Wu Shu staff and threw in standard and 360 degree butterfly kicks amongst his tumbling tricks. He takes on his two Jedi enemies in a peculiar fighting set up that was only recently introduced to Western audiences when Jet Li took on Danny Glover and Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 4. Before then two good guys against one bad guy was not good audience psychology for the fair-minded westerners.”

“Maul and his immediate enemy Qui Gon Jin (who has part of his name derived from the genuine Oriental aer of Qi Gong), display distinctly different methods in preparing for their final round. Qui Gon Jin sits in the Japanese Seiza position, meditating, whereas Maul paces like a wild animal in a manner self-defence instructors consider to be an aggressive Fence. The whole section of the fight would appear to be a fantastical comparison of the Japanese Do and Jutsu philosophies. Darth Maul is the perfect fighting machine, totally committed to war, which was the base of the Jutsu systems. By contrast, Qui Gon Jin embraces life and the universe using his powers to become a better person, which is reflective of the Do philosophy of Martial Arts expression.”

"The Force is a single word to describe the prominent martial art in Star Wars. Users of this power are the Jedi Knights. Samurai culture is most certainly a strong reference point for these Jedi Knight characters: focused, trained and noble warriors who are employed as keepers of the peace. Their evil counterparts, the Sith, go against the Bushido-like code and are the antithesis of what Japanese culture respects. The order of the Sith embrace anger and fear; the way that leads to the dark side as Yoda, the wisest of the Jedi says in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. The dark side of the force is a quick and easy route that is all about aggression and hatred for personal gain. One solid cautionary ethic that is thought in all good martial arts schools is to never misuse your skills. Another resounding philosophy taught by most dedicated martial artist is to accept that their chosen art or arts can be found in everything. Likewise Yoda explains that the Force surrounds us. He describes the human form and what normal people see and feel to be crude by comparison to this all-binding and all-powerful energy. It is a spiritual metaphor and is easy to compare with martial art philosophy. Learning martial arts requires a degree of feeling certain techniques”

"Religion is bound up in many of the traditional Asian arts, particularly in the various styles of Shaolin Kung Fu, Shorinji Kempo, Aikido and Goju Ryu Karate. In modern times we find that many of the arts have become so bound in abstract ritual that they are dismissed as ineffective as the new systems take centre stage. There is also a strong sense of individual and collective faith that I have discovered happens amongst the martial arts community; as our society changes, our scepticism for the past grows. Likewise in Episode IV, when nearly all the Jedi have been eradicated some nineteen years previously, the memory of the force has almost completely been wiped out. It is even referred to as an old religion by the Imperial senior officer, Gran Mof Tarkin and is not believed in by the jaded smuggler, Han Solo. The first character thinks of it as antiquated and therefore no-longer an issue and the latter one considers it as so-much mumbo jumbo. How often have we heard or read similar opinions on martial arts?”

“The Jedi Temple and the celibate monkish lives led by the Jedi Knights in Episodes I-III along with the more flamboyant fight choreography seems to indicate that Lucas was drawing as much from the Chinese Shaolin arts as he was from the Japanese warrior culture in the original trilogy (Episode IV-VI if you are keeping up!). The martial arts historical connection is even more appropriate when we consider that popular theory often places Chinese martial arts being established before the systems in the surrounding Asian countries.”

“The last instalment of the Star Wars saga, Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, ties together the entire series and puts the tragedy of Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) – his rise, fall and redemption – at the centre of the continuing storyline. It is a fable that underlines the ethics of martial arts. We see someone who is extraordinarily gifted and with good intentions becoming tainted by tragic circumstances and seduced by power. Sadly I have seen many good martial artist, who are held in high esteem by their peers, lose their centre and become consumed by the easy path because they were vulnerable, greedy or impatient. The character of Anakin, who becomes Darth Vader, commits heinous crimes in the latest films after he feels his fellow Jedis are holding him back from his true potential and threatening the evil chancellor Palpatine who Anakin believes is helping him. Palpatine is really manipulating the precautious Jedi for his own end.”

“Palpatine, a master of the dark side of the force himself, builds an almighty galactic empire that suppresses Jedis in a manner that could be symbolically compare to the way the Samurais were made obsolete in the nineteenth century and martial arts, in general, have been suppressed by occupying powers. Examples can be drawn from the slave masters who forced their human thralls to hide their fighting art in dances, forming capoirea, to fabled massacre of the Shaolin Monks by their emperor (an appropriately direct comparison with Episodes III Jedi temple slaughter), to the suppression of Korean and Japanese martial arts by the forces that occupied them.”

“ So, in conclusion we have seen that George Lucas was undeniably influenced by Samurai cinema when he first made Star Wars and later, when he made the prequel trilogy, he recognised not only the very obvious advance in cinematic technology but also the level of sophistication that fight choreography had reached thanks to the acceptance of Far Eastern directors and stars into the mainstream. Furthermore the philosophies behind the cultures that are intertwined in the various martial arts were also in Lucas’s mind. Yoda is the strongest voice-piece on these issues and he seen in a teaching capacity throughout the series. His famous line, size matters not, is a dictum that could be written in any number Judo or Aikido instruction manuals and was pretty much the message that Bruce Lee represented in his films. When Luke Skywalker tells the wizened teacher that he will try his best, Yoda gives it to him like a true martial arts instructor: ‘Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.’ Later when Yoda succeeds in doing an incredible feat that Luke has given up on, the young Jedi-in-training exclaims in astonishment “I don’t believe it” to which he explains “that is why you fail”. This is the core principles of the films. It is the faith in the inner spirit and commitment to it that makes Star Wars a great martial arts fable. Lack of faith leads to evil things happening and undying faith ultimately prevails.”

Looking back at the article, I see far more disturbing central ideas that have become a part of the culture of martial arts and are reinforced through Star Wars. The film clearly has a lot of religious connotations and a very simplistic view of morality. Recently I finished a chapter in my second martial arts book, which pushes for martial arts to follow the scientific model and to embrace critical thinking rather than "undying faith".

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

Fig.1. John Cleese with "Murphy" our baby ruffed lemur on the set of "The Human Face".

Okay, please excuse the massive clanging sound that will resonate throughout this blog now, but I am going to do one of world famous name drops and I don't care. John Cleese is one of all-time favourite Monty Python members and one of my favourite comedians. So, although I am no longer into hero worship and am rather cynical about the human condition in general, I simply cannot pass up the opportunity to reflect on the Cleese moment that was brought to my attention.

Cover of Fierce Creatures

Back in 1997 John Cleese released his "equal" to the 1988 hit comedy, "A Fish Called Wanda". Cleese had so enjoyed working the creative team and cast involved with "Wanda" that he wanted to reproduce the experience again. The work was based around Cleese's love of zoology this time and featured his favourite animal, the lemur. My parents' company were actively involved with the project. We trained and supplied many of the animals, and my father befriended Cleese over the filming period. His then wife, Alyce, interviewed and features my father in her book, "How to Manage Your Mother" (read the except mentioning Dad here), which wrote during the filming of "Fierce Creatures". Cleese even gave my dad an engraving as a thank you present after filming was completed. Today I learnt that Cleese had named an animal project he was actively involved in as the favourite show he has worked on.

When John Cleese was working on "Fierce Creatures" he spoke about his desire to travel to Madagascar and see lemurs in the wild. The result was what Cleese cites as "Operation Lemur: Mission to Madagascar”, but was entitled "Lemurs with John Cleese". This little documentary was relayed to The Nerdist in his interview as Cleese's favourite TV experience:

“I made a little documentary about lemurs in Madagascar once, and there was something about that I thought was very warm and mellow, and I liked that, I liked that a lot. And it enabled me to make a few sort of jokes that I hadn’t made before, and it was something really fresh.”

What I like about this statement is that it isn't an attempt at sentimentalism, which gets very tiresome with celebrity types. Instead he is answering the question within the frame of his specific profession. It's quite refreshing in a time when we have hugely hypocritical people with little qualification to comment, trying to tell us how to vote and which charitable cause is most worthy of us to support.

Fig.3. John Cleese with my father on the set of "The Human Face".

Cleese's professional and artistic performance might have pleased him and, no doubt, he was grateful of the opportunity to see his favourite animal in the wild, however, he relayed a rather different impression of his experiences in Madagascar to my father when they met again for the filming of the four-part documentary series, "The Human Face". Apparently the toilet facilities were less than adequate in the rainforest, which is not a comforting thought when eating and drinking in Madagascar will inevitably result in the average using them a great deal! Dad's company were supplying a lemur, pictured above, called Murphy, for "The Human Face". At the time Murphy was spending a lot of his time in mother's house, where I still lived at the time. The little sod used to dive-bomb me in every morning off the edge of my bedroom door. There have been subtler alarm clocks.

Here is the Dangerous Minds report on John Cleese's interview to The Nerdist.

John Cleese appearing with one of our ring-tailed lemurs to promote "Fierce Creatures" on the Des O'Connor Show.

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

English: Paddington at Paddington (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

*One day Paddington received a letter telling him he was to be put in front of a committee. “What’s a committee?” he asked the Brown family. “It’s when a group of people get together to decide on things”, said Mrs Brown. “What are they going to decide about me?” asked Paddington. “I think”, said Judy, “That it is about your new film”. Paddington became very excited. “A film? About me?” he said in amazement. “Yes”, said Jonathan, “They have been planning to make it since 2007”. Paddington looked concerned. It seemed like a very long time to plan something. “What do you think has taken them so long?” He suddenly asked. “That”, said Mr Brown, “Is a very good question. After all, you have been loved by the British since 1958. Mr Bond has consistently written stories that have remained faithful to the original idea and seem timeless. A television series was created in the 1970s that fitted so well with the original books that it now seems strange not to hear a Paddington’s stories without hearing Michael Horden’s comforting tones, narrating your adventures”.

“Yes dear”, said Mrs Brown. “It probably helped that the entire TV series was part-produced by Mr Bond. The BBC are known to be a difficult committee, but when it came to producing quality children’s television in the 1970s and ‘80s, few could fault them on the creativity they allowed”. The Browns agreed that the TV series had not faltered once its entire run and a lot of that was mainly down to consistently keeping to a simple method and putting the essence of the stories first. Yes, they said, it was formulaic as stories of this nature need to be.

Everyone in the Brown household seemed happy, but they were not without a good deal of apprehension about the intended new feature film. Mrs Bird, who was always very protective of Paddington, had her reservations. “I bet they are going to use that horrible CGI”, she said. The Browns were aware that although amazing advances had been in the use of Computer Generated Imagery and the likes of both Pixar and DreamWorks had produced some bonafide classics, the medium did have some decided drawbacks. Firstly, unlike the innocent and simplistic visual concept of the Paddington TV series, CGI dated at a very fast rate indeed. Only a handful of films, such as Peter Jackson’s imagining of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy had really got the balance right, and that was mainly down its heavy use of models, set and costume design as well as the choice of real life breath-taking landscapes “So long as they remain faithful to the original source”, said Mrs Bird, “I guess it will be alright. However, it is not good enough to humour audiences by paying homage to a few established trademarks. Paddington is magical because of its overall feel of familiarity, which you read in the first story onwards and was beautifully imagined in the Filmfair TV series for the BBC”.

The day arrived that Paddington found himself sat in front of the committee. He had heard many exciting things such as it would feature, including a well-trained squirrel monkey and a very amusing scene in the Brown’s bathroom, where Paddington would create tidal wave that would run through the family’s house. “I hope nobody will get hurt, Mr King”, said Paddington, who was always concerned for the wellbeing others. Paul King was a BAFTA winning director who not only directed the film, but also had co-written it with Hamish McColl.

The whole set-up, including a cast that included a host well-known British stars making up the main cast - such as Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi and Ben Whishaw performing the voice of Paddington – sounded very much like a home-grown piece of art. Nicole Kidman was the standout foreign talent and she was to play the role of a villain, which reminded Paddington of the way Hollywood often liked to cast British actors as the baddies. Paddington has met plenty of bad types in his time. However, they usually came in the form of confidence tricksters. Ms Kidman was to play the role of a psychotic and special operations trained taxidermist intent on killing Paddington and having him preserved in a museum. Paddington had certainly endangered himself many times, but had come to represent the amusing oxymoron of “mild peril”. This seemed to overstep the description a bit.

“But this is a major feature film”, explained one of the committee members, “The audience will expect everything on a much larger scale”. Paddington was further alarmed to discover that one of his family members is slain early on in the film. The committee explained how everything had to conform to the expectations of the general public. Paddington wondered what more a general public could expect from a story that had kept a consistent theme for well over half a century. “There is a 19 plot points for the script” explained one member of the committee.

Things certainly were on a larger scale to the problems than the episodes that usually occurred after Paddington had mislaid one of his beloved marmalade sandwiches. “Don’t worry, we checked that one off the list” said another member of the committee. “Our fan sensitivity ensured that your fondness for marmalade is reiterated throughout the picture and one even clogs up a machine. You do all your funny things and we reference lots of the books without actually adapting them. That incident with Mr Brown in the café at Paddington station is recreated and then there’s the bit where you get lost on the elevators. There’s even this gag with a dog, where you read a sign saying ‘All dogs must be carried’ near the elevator, so you go and find one to carry, to show how literal you are with different things”. Paddington could see that they appeared to be trying very hard, but something about this whole committee thing bothered him.

“What other funny things do I do?” he asked suspiciously. “Well, the usual stuff that gets laughs. You get confused, like you do in the books and there’s plenty of slapstick. There’s a little bit of toilet humour in there because that is what people expect”. Paddington recalled the popular trailer for the film and said, “Yes, I thought the toilet bit was a bit funny, but I thought the bit with the sink and the bath was even funnier”. The committee turned to look at each other bewilderment and then one member quickly said, “No, I mean there is a scene where you have eaten your entire marmalade supply and start breaking wind” Paddington gave the committee one of his hard stares. “We’ve got you doing that too!” shouted one of the members with enthusiasm. Paddington did not like the way this was going. “We had to put the hard stare in and you tell Mr Brown what it is you are doing and why you are doing it”.

Paddington look puzzled. Why would he need to explain? As if they were reading his mind, one of the committee members chimed in, “We have to do that because there is no narrator. The film is full of exposition. People don’t like mystery these days. Their suspension of disbelief is so weak that we constantly have to prop it up with ever-more ridiculous supports to make anything that is clearly fantasy seem plausible. Also the fans will be delighted to know that we have fleshed out your backstory. There is a reason for why you wear the duffel coat and the red hat, and even how you got the idea to keep a marmalade sandwich in your hat for emergencies. We even explain why you are crazy for marmalade! A movie is the place to explain such things. We also explain how you and your family learned how to talk and why you love London so much”.

“How do I look in the film?” Paddington asked. “Like you!” they all said enthusiastically, but then added “With a few changes”. Paddington didn’t like the sound of that. “Changes?” he said. “Yes, to make you look more bear-like. You will also do more bear-like things like climbing up poles really fast”.

Paddington left the committee not sure whether he should be delighted that his story was being brought to a new audience or whether it really was his story at all. This was a sentiment shared by the Browns when he got home. “What’s a 19 point plot?” asked Mrs Brown. “A Committee member told me it was to reduce the risk”. Mrs Bird was not amused. “That doesn't sound like one of Mr Bond's stories" she said. "He didn't write it", said Paddington. Judy explained she had read about it before. "It includes things like the 'false victory'" Mrs Bird shook her head. "What is wrong with a beginning, a middle and an end? We know every story will involve Paddington getting himself into trouble and everything resolving itself. Do we need to predict every single step of the way?" Mr Brown said, "Well, we'll just have to wait and see".

Postscript:

The film does work, but it seems like a gentle homage to Michael Bond's creation rather than a worthy attempt to expand on the Paddington story. Despite efforts to keep the whole thing as British as possible, it all seems like a massive pastiche of Britain to an American audience. It couldn't be more formulaic to the typical family movie model of today if it had been in Hollywood. The Browns function in the book were to provide an affectionate and loyal yet two-dimensional backdrop to Paddington. This was literally depicted in the TV series that Michael Bond co-produced. Fleshing them out, we see each cast member taking on expected stereotypes. Jonathan is an action-packed and creative little boy, working against his father's fear of risks. Judy is a sullen stroppy pre-pubescent also with a genius level talent, this time with languages. Mrs Brown was made into an over-affectionate and emotional middle class hippy artist. This is very different to the very sensible character we see in the books. Mr Brown is Lord Grantham from Downton Abbey. Hugh Bonneville has simply substituted his upper class concern over the deterioration of tradition for middle class paranoia over taking risks. He is the same stuffy yet deeply affectionate father figure who is scared of change until he is convinced by the family he loves. Mrs Bird, originally the nanny/cook character in the books, is a "distant relation" Scottish accented Julie Walters. Oddly enough, despite all the obvious changes on the surface to her character, she acts the closes to the heart of the source material.

Outside the family we have the contrasting Mr Gruber, the kindly antiques dealer, and Mr Curry, the objectionable and penny-pinching next door neighbour. Like Bonneville, Jim Broadbent seems to adopt a caricature that has become associated with most of his good guy roles. Peter Capaldi is quite the disappointment as Mr Curry. The penny pinching gag is one of the few areas that did need a bit of exposition, but didn't get any and therefore fell a bit flat. He plays second fiddle to Kidman as the film's major antagonist. Kidman's character, a completely original construct for the film, is also pretty interchangeable to several of her other ice queen roles, which she seems to regularly play these days. Think Mrs. Coulter in "The Golden Compass" or even Evelyn Stoker in "Stoker" and you will be hard-pressed to make a distinction from Kidman's Millicent character in this film. Even the character's title seems lazy and influenced by a certain other franchise spin-off that is currently en vogue. The era of the geek seems to be passing through its golden age now. Whereas the 2000s opened to adaptations and re-makes that diligently paid homage to their source material, we have arrived at a time when fan appeasement is just another part of the committee process. "Paddington" may resemble the British institution it is supposed to represent, but this is a superficial veneer. The words of kindness and support that Mrs Bird and the Brown family spoke in Paddington's defence whenever he got into trouble was far more subtle and sincere in delivering a moral message than the clumsy speeches about what constitutes a family in King and McCall's script.

Okay, perhaps I am being a little harsh. To the film's credit, it is enjoyable as far as regular family movies go, but will never be remembered as a classic. However, it could have been far worse. I know my parents' trainers enjoyed working on the picture and it certainly inspired me to buy the complete original "Paddington" box set for my daughter's birthday. She received a crash course in the bear from Darkest Peru. Listening to my daughter's friend the other day when I picked them both up from school, I heard just about everything mentioned in the film that was not part of the original Paddington concept. The earthquake, the death in the family and his elaborate bear-like acrobatics were recalled. Marmalade sandwiches were forgotten. It brought a smile to my face to see the enduring image of the little bear in his duffel coat and red hat preserved in the form of miniature toy fastened to her school bag. Paddington has reached another generation.

*If you didn't know already, the above is a tongue-in-cheek review of the film, "Paddington", and not a submission of a new Paddington Bear story. In no way should it be considered an attempt to sell a copyrighted product. Paddington Bear is the copyright and creation of Michael Bond. I cannot believe I need to say this stuff, but there is always "one" out there.

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

It seems crazy to think that our very irrationality might be part of what binds our species together and allows a lot of interdependence. Cognitive psychology is a fascinating subject and I have read many good books that explore the irrational response in human beings. The best sceptics, those who usually have a professional understanding of psychology, tend to be a lot more forgiving about those who believe. This seems to come from a strong sense of self-awareness. As logical and rational as we like to think of ourselves, we hard-wired to think irrationally.

Bruce Hood begins his excellent investigation into human behaviour and its leaning towards superstitious ideas by giving a simple test. He asks the reader, as he would ask any of those who attend his lectures, whether they would wear a clean second-hand sweater. Most people would agree to do this without having any qualms. He then says that the garment used to belong to the serial killer and rapist, Fred West. The response is dramatic. Even though it is an irrational response, the average person will not wear the sweater. Somehow, beneath their reasoning, logic and rationality, there is the ingrained belief that the item has the essence of evil.
Such an essence-based irrational idea is deeply rooted in our traditions. Hood argues that this is the reason why Irish Americans will pay a fortune to have soil from their homeland imported to the US, so they can be buried with it surrounding their carcass. This is despite them being in full knowledge that the soil will have to be filtered and go through a process that will pretty much rob it of its original form when it was first dug up from Ireland. Being interested in folklore and the Gothic I was intrigued by Hood’s immediate association with vampires and the belief that they had to occupy coffins filled with the earth of their homeland. This folklore is a feature of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”.

Superstition is often mistakenly thought to be purely an error in our conscious thought. Hood cites B.F. Skinner’s famous experiment with pigeons as proof that superstitious belief goes back to a far more primitive part of our brain. For those who are unaware of the experiment, a group of pigeons were randomly fed in a box and after a while 75 per cent of the birds started exhibiting odd physical behaviours. Skinner concluded that they had adopted these behaviours by associating performance of the action with getting food. This is compared to the way gamblers and sports-people perform certain rituals or wear certain items in the belief that it wards off bad luck. It is not difficult to see the association between these rituals and those that have gone on to form the trappings and physical representation of religions.

Although Skinner and those before him are given due credit, Hood is keen to explain how later experiments and research went on to supersede his hugely influential theories on behaviourism. The best example of this being Noam Chomsky, who’s critique of Skinner’s “Verbal Behaviour” book. Chomsky, of course, was pretty much the godfather of what now call cognitive psychology. In this respect, Hood’s provides us not only with informative insights into superstitious thinking, but also a history of the progression psychology education. At a glance, one might think that the two are not immediately related. However, this is not the case. We intuitively think of the brain and the mind as two separate things. Hood puts it that we define our individuality through our conscious thought. This, in itself, is an irrational belief and brings us back to Hood’s core argument regarding our perception of essence. Our conscious thought processes are all the result of brain activity stemming from the oldest parts of this organ.

Hood’s book is an easy to read guide to our understanding of irrational belief. It is funny and self-aware, as well as a great source for referencing information on cognitive psychology. Here and there the text was guilty of taking unfounded subjective assumptions. It struck me by the fact that even psychologists let the self-awareness discipline slip. However, such things just seemed to reinforce Hood’s overall points. He was certainly not preachy or condescending about beliefs, but accepting that we are all susceptible to them.

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

Horizontally-divided field emblem. Used in Matthew Barney's films. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Plot:

Inspired (I refuse to say “loosely based”) on Norman Mailer’s most heavily criticized work, “Ancient Evenings”, written in 1983, this is a three part/seven act hybrid of opera and various other art forms. Using some structural concepts from the work, the story is largely set around a wake being held for Norman Mailer at his house and the decline of the American car industry. Whilst at the wake Mailer returns from the dead in seven different forms, representing what the ancient Egyptians believed to be the seven stages of the soul. The decline of the American car industry, symbolized by the systematic destruction and decay of a single car and those that work in the industry around it, is itself symbolic of human death. At least that is one interpretation, but who knows?

Review:
“Why doesn’t someone just say ‘no’ to this guy!” was the strained response from a dear friend of mine when I reported back my viewing of this work. We often hear the old cliché that one must suffer for their art. However, it would appear that Matthew Barney wishes to share this feeling with his audience. Forgetting for a moment that he might owe something to anyone outside of his fellow sycophantic artists who pray that they might get his kind of sponsorship, “River of Fundament” is an ordeal – a six hour ordeal of self-indulgence and excess. This isn’t to say that it isn’t often beautiful or clever in parts. I would contend that the film contains some wonderfully shot scenes and some great ideas. It is inspirational, but as I sat watching its premier at the English National Opera House I couldn’t help thinking that the inspiration I was getting might be a coping mechanism, justifying my time spent there. You are provoked to think beyond the numbing of your gluteal muscles and the bemusement of the various hipsters in attendance because you are bludgeoned into doing so.

I am being uncharitable again. In truth, it is the film’s very length that is its biggest folly. If it was cannily edited down to one quarter of its length, then I am sure it would have had a tremendous impact. There are some amazing sequences and examples of juxtaposition that, although they aren’t particularly subtle, are brilliantly executed. Just about all the scenes using the decline of the American car industry to symbolize the exterior destruction of a human being are excellent. Nearly everything shot in and around this concept works well, and are both visually appealing and original. The arrivals of the living dead that emerge from the river excrement do justice to a key idea created by Norman Mailer that repelled so many other filmmakers from tackling the author’s attempt at a 700 page magnum opus also works very well. Barney, of course, embraces the idea so much that he ensures we see the see river several times in addition to various other scenes involving faeces, often associated with sex. This is faithful to Mailer’s own text and ideas. A perusal of reviews and a synopsis check of “Ancient Evenings” will testify to that. I am not moved to read it I hasten to add.
I admit that I was not consciously familiar with Barney’s works prior to seeing the film, having looked through an art book and watched part of a documentary on the making of his notorious Whaling film. Georges Bataille, who the more I look the more it seems Barney was actively trying to compete with, was also relatively new to me. This is despite my knowing about Valentine Penrose a contemporary and member of Bataille’s ilk well over a decade before I read his “The Trial of Gilles De Rais” and some of his “The Story of the Eye”. However, I had a fair idea what to expect. I went in hoping to see something truly revolutionary. The work is certainly ambitious and Barney’s work has that attractive audacious quality you find in so many other filmmakers, but I am not sure where it falls with me. It doesn’t have the feeling of a heroic failing or the sense of triumph that you find in some defiant art cinema.

Matters are not improved by Barney’s live discussions about the project. He was interviewed by BBC’s fawning head of art prior to the viewing of the piece. The artist came across as pretty much everything that is wrong with the art world: humourless and completely absorbed by his own self-importance. When asked about his apparent obsession with bodily functions, he answer was a rather meandering and unconvincing monotone diatribe about passageways. As one critic put it, the work is a virtual ode to copraphilia and feels like a more honest appraisal of what is often going on. The work has been cited as a contemporary opera, but even Barney concedes this is not the case. He prefers to call it a hybrid. I would go a stage further and say it is almost a musical and that is actually the closest to any label you could accurately use as a film genre. In truth, I would say that this is not a movie. It isn’t even an art-movie. It’s a grossly extended piece of video art.

On the film's plus side, Paul Giamatti is in the cast and it is good see his range. Unfortunately the script does not give him very good material to work with, as Barney stomps around the stage alongside many others who really do not lend themselves well to film. The film's soundtrack, which is supposed to be a big part of the whole "operatic" concept is not impressive either. Described as "eccentric" by Barney. Jonathan Beplar's sound sculpture just seems to be in a self-indulgent competition with Barney's visuals and wins that respect.

By all means I encourage those who appreciate fine art to view excepts of the picture. The obscene amount of money spent on the piece and Barney's undeniable natural talents do not disappoint when viewed in small snatches. He has always been a very driven man with a wide range of ability. Although his entire career has been heavily financed from its earliest stages and I think this really does come out in his work. You get the feeling he is constantly surrounded by nodding heads. Sadly my meagre experiences in the art world, particularly the more pretentious end reveal a serious lack of critical appraisal. There seems to be a circle of artists constantly congratulating each other and that is then surrounded by a further circle of fans who seem too scared to declare that the Emperor has no clothes on.

There some truly outstanding installations and examples of video art. I concede that much. However, the whole thing is not a convincing argument for art funding of any sort. Look at individual pieces and examine them on their individual merit. There is some great stuff and some rather uninspiring pieces. Watch the entire thing at your own risk.

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

There were pigs in my daughter’s Nativity Play. She told me as much weeks ago, but I finally saw for myself last night. They are part of a cast of anthropomorphised animals that decide to stay awake to see the arrival of their presents. Santa Claus is not mentioned, but the surprise birth of Christ will occur that very night in the animals’ manger…. So, let’s get this straight. The animals, which include the only domesticated pink pigs in first century Judea, are excited about celebrating a Christmas that hasn’t been invented yet. What I am describing is Caroline Hoile’s “Cockadoodle Christmas”, a musical created for three to seven year olds, containing eight original songs. With weird surreal convolutions and contradictions in the plot, it is a very apt representation of Church of England religious culture.

Looking at the whole play made me think of the “’Til Death Do US Part” Christmas special, where a hugely Anglicized version of the events was discussed by comedy’s favourite bigot, Alf Garnett. Garnett’s wife Else also comments that it was not surprising Mary and Joseph couldn’t find room for the night, as "everything is closed at Christmas!" The reality is that we have now arrived at a time whereby few people care about the surreal notion of a Christmas tradition already being in place prior to their being a Christ. Matters are not made better by fundamentalists who object the secularization of the festivities. They are often the same ones who suddenly decided that Halloween was a Satan-worshipping tradition, somehow forgetting the meaning of the title. True, Halloween was a Pagan tradition prior to being Christianized, but according to many 18th and 19th century historians and Christians alike, so was Christmas. Similar things could be said about Easter, the celebration of Christ's resurrection that coincides the fertility festivals of spring in the western hemisphere.

"In the Bleak Midwinter" is a poem, now generally sung as a popular and beautifully melancholy carol, that re-imagines the Nativity in northern England. However, as has been pointed to me, snow has been known to fall in Judea during the winter months of November to February, so we shouldn't scoff at the Christmas cards that show snow covered mangers. At least that might be the case if there was historical evidence to show that Jesus was born during those months. Not only is there no historical evidence of Christ being born then, it goes against the scriptural account. A Roman census, which led Mary and Jospeph to return to Bethlehem to register, would not have been held during the winter months and neither would shepherds been watching their flocks by night. There is no historical or scriptural record of the definite year, let alone month or day of Jesus's birth.

The Christmas that the majority of the world has now settled on is a bizarre combinations of traditions some of which probably stems from a need for people living in the western hemisphere to cheer themselves up during its darkest and sometimes coldest days: midwinter. Nevertheless, there are many popular arguments that say it was a transformation of the Roman festival for their sun god, Sol Invictus, or that it occurred precisely nine months to the day that some Christians say Christ was conceived. Regardless of this attempt to solemnize the legitimacy of the date, the traditions of Christmas are overwhelmingly pagan and secular, and the Christian representation is one that has severely filtered through European art and translation. I have little time for the conspiracy theorists who think that the festival is being secularized. Those who protest at others calling the festival "Happy Holidays" really need to exercise a more live and let live attitude to their fellow humans.

I have plenty of sympathy for those who choose not to celebrate Christmas for religious or irreligious reasons. I really think the charitable aspect of Christmas or the Christmas Spirit should be extended through tolerance. No one should be bullied into having a joyous disposition or to celebrate something they don't want to celebrate. I am not a religious person at all anymore, but I think there is something universal in the desire to brighten up the darkest month of the year and to inspire a sense of charity. There is still a big part me of that has empathy for those who treat it as another day and take advantage of the fact that they can focus on the work better. In some respects, I pay tribute to that side of me by having a traditional training session.

On this note, it seems a little silly to argue against the secularization of Christmas. Likewise, I don't think secularists should worry too much about using the word "Christmas". I have gone through many phases regarding this time of year. The end of teenage years saw a petulant dislike of the season rise in me like so much brandy butter flavoured bile in my throat. I loathed the pressures of getting Christmas presents, the forced friendships with people you just didn't get on with, the idea of embracing tackiness in a post-ironic way and sickening false sentimentalism of celebrities. It also coincided with my reaction to organized religion, which only stoked my fires. Years later I learnt to make the most of any popular festival, embracing what I liked about it and disregarding the rest. Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby drowned out Slade, Wizzard and Paul McCartney and all the other tacky nonsense in my home. I will watch Gremlins over most Christmas movies. Garlands and wreathes counter tinsel and paper chains. The Pogues and the soundtrack to The Muppets Christmas Carol have proven great antidotes to Bob Geldolf's pop dictatorship over which charity we should donate to. I think this year we have a lot to learn from the way Adele responded to his call and quietly donated to a charity prior the release of the fourth incarnation of a record that no one has any real pride in creating.

Christmas, like any celebration, is what you make of it and that is how it has naturally endured, and been accepted by so many. Christmas has continuously mutated. Odin and eight-legged horse flying across the skies has morphed into a role taken on by St. Nicholas and his eight reindeer. In turn, he has become a figure that has been seen as something an opponent to the saint's chosen religion, Jesus himself. It is often amusing to see these mutations take place and it is why we have plays such as "Cockadoodle Christmas".

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

Portrait of Thomas Cromwell. New York, Frick Collection. Oak panel, 76 x 61 cm. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"The ambitious have no friends" - Brian Taggert and Faustus Buck

Thomas Cromwell seems modelled for the role of the devious and manipulative power behind the throne. He is depicted as a ruthless and power-hungry man of ambition who destroyed several notable figures on his ascent to the position as Henry VIII's chief minister. Virtually every portrait I have seen of the man is unflattering. He scowls from his seated position with cold eyes over a long and sharp nose. Danny Webb's depiction of the character in the TV series, "Henry VIII", takes this image and runs with it in perfect style. He is seen as a scheming and overly-ambitious man. Yet his latest biography challenges this view, presenting a man who was loyal to his family and loved by the common people. He was the most hated man in England, but this may have been as much to do with the influence of his aristocratic enemies, led by Duke of Norfolk as it was to do with his ruthlessness.

The fascinating thing about history is that, like science, there are no absolutes. We not only uncover new evidence, but new perspectives too. I recently read "Dracula: Prince of Many Faces" in my pursuit of sifting out the bloody propaganda surrounding Vlad Tepes and in hope of finding the real man. It always interests me to see challenging and compelling evidence that shifts an accepted perspective of an historical figure. History is all about storytelling and it is only natural that humans feel secure using a simplistic moral approach, and this is often actively encouraged either by political powers of the day or partisan revisionists.

On that note, being a critical thinker, I am not easily swayed on a controversial viewpoint. Conspiracy theories and pseudohistory must be given no quarter in our condemnation, and their relegation to the faction or outright fiction sections of our libraries. This is why I thoroughly enjoyed Ian Mortimer's "1415: Henry V's Year of Glory", which did an incredibly thorough job of re-evaluating the character of Henry V. Mortimer's account of Henry V. Mortimer's conclusion was certainly controversial and challenged an English view of Henry V that seems to have been held since his lifetime. Yet Mortimer's primary sources were excellent and thorough. He had access to royal archives few others could obtain. His researching methods were those of a disciplined and dispassionate historian. He was fair with his subject and his conclusion was very convincing. Likewise, Tony Thorne's even-handed account of Countess Elizabeth Bathory does touch upon the possibility of a conspiracy. However, this is based on established conspiracies at the time and also is not presented as the only conclusion on the Bathory case. Again, Thorne appears to be fair to his subject and this was no blatant lionization.

Now Thomas Cromwell, a man who is often cast as Henry VIII's most despised advisor, seems to be receiving a much needed review. Tracy Borman's new biography on the chief minister argues the case for a man who was vilified due to his low birth. He is revealed to being loyal, a strong family man and extremely charitable. He was not only one of the main driving forces behind the English Reformation, but also proved to be just as influential over the creation of modern Government as his latter day namesake was over Parliament. However, she doesn't dismiss his ruthless ambition, for which has earned him his reputation as an amoral schemer. The execution of Anne Boleyn was the result of Cromwell's handiwork. He had a network of spies to rival that of the great spymaster, Walsingham, who would be at Elizabeth I's side. Nevertheless, Borman puts forward the persuasive argument that Cromwell's tactics and attitude were little different from anyone who moved in his circles. Ambition and ruthlessness were the order of the day. The son of blacksmith, Cromwell climbed from poverty, even begging in the street, to a position of extreme influence in the Royal Court. Along the way he made enemies, which is inevitable, but by lacking a noble background he had a distinct disadvantage compared to the other power-hungry aspirants.

Cromwell's reputation seems to have followed a similar course to his life in some respects. Up until Geoffrey Elton's study of the Tudors, Cromwell was downplayed as a mere agent of the overbearing tyrant, Henry VIII. Since then evidence reveals how massively instrumental he was in the King's affairs, the running of the country and the reforms that have shaped modern England. This may have elevated the collective opinion on his abilities and strength of personality, but it only blackened his image. Now Henry VIII's acts of tyranny were shared more fully by his chief minister. The deaths of Sir Thomas Moore and the aforementioned Anne Boleyn are undeniably lain at the feet of Cromwell. He was often portrayed in novels, plays, such as Robert Bolt's "A Man for all Seasons" and other works of historical fiction universally as a conniving Machiavellian villain. However, Hilary Montel rode against this image in her Booker Prize-winning 2009 novel, "Wolf Hall". This depicted the rise of Cromwell as that of a talented pragmatist. The sequel in her Cromwell trilogy, "Bring up the Bodies" also won the Booker Prize. Tracy Borman cites them as inspiration for her own research and the subsequent biography. Yet again history proves itself to be very much about people and stories.

As an icon, Cromwell seems to be the prototype of the Machiavellian schemers we were to see in Shakespeare's plays. He is the ambitious and cruel sidekick of many a fictional villain. He could be the wily Mafia consigliere or the ambitious military lieutenant or the devious henchman we see perched at the side of any proverbial or literal throne. In recent times we might find him in the form of Lord Petyr "Little Finger" Baelish in George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy saga (televised as the hugely successful "Game of Thrones"). The stories here are noted for the moral ambiguity running throughout, where the most noble are dispatched and only those who learn the rules of power play can thrive. Baelish, like Cromwell, rose from a low rank, cultivated a network of informers, and controlled the lives of many by using ruthless tactics. However, here and there he missteps and his own mortal weaknesses are revealed. He boastfully tells the mother of the King, Cercei, that "knowledge is power" only to be quickly shown that "power is power". Later his desire for Sansa, daughter of the woman he loved, places him directly in Sansa's power. In an over-reaching attempt to solidify the Protestant Reformation in England, Cromwell set Henry VIII up to marry the German Anne of Cleves. The disastrous matchmaking humiliated the king and it gave Cromwell's enemies, in the form of Duke of Norfolk and Bishop Gardiner, to pounce. It wasn't difficult to have Cromwell sent to the Tower on a list of trumped up charges that saw him being beheaded without a trial. According to Tracy Borman's research, Cromwell was very popular amongst the commoners and was known to be very charitable and Henry VIII regretted having his close friend executed.

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

This is my new page on iAuthor. Please share with interested parties. I hope to be listing details on my future books and published material. Let's see if it is a fruitful association.

Jamie Clubb. See this and more books, apps and Themes on iAuthor

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

English: Political Spectrum Chart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

European Political Spectrum (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Far be it for me to sing the praises of normalcy. I would view my life and upbringing to be rather outside what mainstream public opinion would consider to be "usual". Take a look at my rather eclectic biography - born to an animal circus family, working in the wild animal film industry, martial arts/self-protection teacher, co-promoter of the UK's extreme pro wrestling promotion, professional performer, writer and so on - and you will see a rather eccentric back-story. My life is also full of paradoxes and contradictions. My tastes vary wildly and without any sense of pattern or rhythm, which is a bit like my attempt at dancing or conversation. I have never tried to belong to anything, but often seen movements to be temporary means to an end. Even "my people", the circus people, live very different lives to me and have done so since I was seven years old. My political ideas are also pretty varied too and I have long hated the left/right compass that many people build into their minds. It creates glaring cognitive blind-spots and strikes a very obvious comparison with fundamental religiosity. From the barely veiled bigotry and paranoia of UKIP to the cartoonish trendy Communism of Russell Brand, I think the individual should be wary.

However, politics, like religion, suffers from the restless frustration that erupts at its fringes. I look at our current landscape, where the UK's middle ground has been fought over since the 1990s, and see dangers at either end of the so-called political spectrum. Ideologies just don't stand up to the harsh and unpredictable scrutiny of life. This is why science distinguishes itself from all other disciplines in accepting no absolutes, is constantly self-correcting and embraces scrutiny, even if some of its proponents are less willing to submit to said scrutiny. Life is too contradictory and society is too complex to be successfully managed, led, cared for or empowered by any one single political persuasion. Therefore, I address every individual issue on its own grounds. As someone once said, "When it comes to the police I am on the right. When it comes to education I am on the left".

English: Nolan chart, 2d political spectrum. Diagonal line indicates classical 1d left-right political spectrum. See license below. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is very different to the way many people in my culture were brought up to see the world. We were told one political party had our people's interests at heart. This was hand-in-hand with one particular religious persuasion. Looking back it seemed so simple, but as time goes on I realize that it was almost as much nonsense then as it is today. I have seen the same party not only contradict many of the ideas I have formed through personal experience but actively betray my people. I have seen similar contradictions occur in their opposing party. I have seen MPs and MEPs take a stance in line with my personal opinion, something I feel strongly and deeply about, but then seen the rest of their party move in a direction far from how I see the world.

If you push the average non-fanatic hard enough you will see that their personal political persuasions are not so "left of Karl Marx" or "right of Margaret Thatcher" as they would like you to believe. The case of Margaret Thatcher is an interesting example of how contradictory politics can be. Loathed by most of those who identify themselves as being staunchly red, she was the exemplar of several causes that are often considered to be left-leaning. Not an obvious friend of the Women's Liberation Movement, she was Britain's first female prime minister, which is a win for feminism if I have ever seen one. This was no token of political correctness. For better or worse, Thatcher was possibly the most formidable and forceful British political leader since Winston Churchill and the longest serving British prime minister of 20th century. Whether it was in the House of Commons or her own cabinet or even in her discussions with other world leaders, to paraphrase her own words, "The lady was not for the turning". Furthermore, tough rise to success and battles at the top could well be seen as examples of a patriarchal reaction to having a woman in power. Notwithstanding the sexist state of politics of the time, all of Thatcher's noteworthy opponents, both in other political parties and internally, were men.
Although it was never said, you could almost taste the frustration some had with the fact that this woman would not conform to the societal norm of bending to the will of men.

A green grocer's daughter, some have argued that hatred from the left came from the fact that she took much of the working classes away from them. Of course, there is also an argument put forward that prior to Thatcherism, Britain was at an egalitarian high with social classes at their most equal in recorded history. However, this is a discussion for another day.

Generic multi-axis political spectrum chart. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I do have a strong libertarian side and I love the individualistic streak running through Objectivist founder, Ayn Rand's work, particularly "The Fountainhead". However, I don't buy into her anti-altruistic philosophy. I
am probably influenced by the fact that both sides of my family built their businesses on laissez-faire capitalist principles. Circuses in Britain in many ways represent this ideal. However, the culture they contain is as close to liberalism as one could possibly imagine. My ramble, "These are my People" touches upon this apparent harmonious contradiction.
Despite my libertarian leanings, I support our National Health Service and all our emergency services. The NHS, for all its many, many faults, is a credit to our country and we have a Labour government to thank for its implementation. Yet my people have suffered directly from a government run by this party.

Usually you will find many who identify themselves as being Conservative with a capital "C", having little issue backing the police. Traditionally the Police and all their predecessors have protected the interests of the establishment. From the Praetorian Guard of Rome to the Bow Street Runners of London and the eventual British Police service itself, which was created by a Conservative Prime Minister, the Police have been favoured by the right. However, the same cannot always be said for the other emergency services. Whenever there has been strike action, typically those with a strong right wing compass will oppose the strikers.

I recall being at a party, where I was politely listening to the hard right rantings of one blustering individual. I was no fan of Blair and so we had some common ground. Blair had critics from the proud "Old" Labour guard, such as Tony Benn and Arthur Scargill, and many from the right saw him as a natural heir to Thatcher. However, my ranter was not so convinced. He was just another red. So, I put my blind right/left compass theory to the test. As he ranted away at "that comedian" (one can only chuckle at what he would have made of Russell Brand), I timed my insertion regarding Blair's then stand-off against the fire service. Matters had got so bad that the army were having to replace the service using outdated equipment and vehicles. I wondered whether my friend's hatred was directed so severely against Blair that he would take the side of the traditionally left unions. Without taking a breath he immediately turned on the fire service, belittling their complaints and condemning their strike action. Memories of the Conservatives battle with Arthur Scargill and the miners of 1980s had possibly left their mark, and as much as he opposed the current government he was never going to take a side against the institution it represented.

I am very wary over any celebrity that takes a political platform. There is nothing wrong with an artist showcasing his other abilities, but if you are going to choose something that has a direct affect on the way people live you have to be prepared to take the shots. I despair at those who find any of his political interviews to be profound in anyway. They all seem like blatant publicity stunts with Brand using his skills as an entertainer to bully and evade reasonable arguments. Respect for this ultimate example in no substance politics just proves how little we want to think.

Brand has effectively promoted apathy to voting as a type of protest. I agree that if you feel none of the parties in your local constituency represent any of your views - and you should really consider whether this is actually true - you should feel a need to vote, but for the sake of those who fought to give the right to make that decision at least turn up at the polling station to spoil your ballot paper.

Meanwhile, the emergence of a party like UKIP might show a cyclical political journey in the UK. We seemed to have dodged the racist bullet shot by a re-emerging and re-branded BNP only to allow in a similar party that uses an "Old Conservative" Trojan Horse cover. Again and again the party lets slip yet another representative who holds onto anti-gay, racist or disturbingly old fashioned religious ideas. A desire to defend against Europe's influence over the UK is one thing, but the party just seems to be catch-all for prejudice and paranoia.

So as I finish this ramble, I hear the chords of Stealer's Wheel's classic song: Russel Brand to the left of me, Farage to the right. Here I am. Stuck in the middle of a zoo.

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

When I look out of my window and the visual display that meets me could easily have been a subject for an Edgar Hunt oil painting. Various breeds of chickens, some Emden geese and even white and blue peafowl colour the green field as they mill about eating the scattered seeds that make up their breakfast. Added to this animated canvas of farmyard beauty are the ducks. Like the chickens, there is more than one breed on show. They include the brown Khaki Campbell and the white Aylesbury. They also include the Indian Runners. These ducks are distinctly different to the rest. Despite a single member who is almost completely black, they are white, like the Aylesbury. However, unlike the other breeds of duck, this bird stands very erect and often with its beak in the air. Like a diminutive goose they march forward with purpose – and nothing stands in their way. For, although many would look upon this scene as the perfect backdrop to countryside tranquillity, I see chaos and carnage.

Viewed from our own perceptions of civilization, love and caring, the human being is often quite struck by the bestial ferocity of the natural world. True, we have inflicted upon each other and the planet we inhabit acts of destruction that dwarf any other known creature in history, but it is the everyday savagery and brutality that seems so alien to the average human living in the developed world. The apex predators have long come to represent our fears of a violent death. From the stalking big cats and wolves that have torn apart those who wondered too far off the beaten track to the crocodilians and sharks that struck like lightening from the beneath surface of our planet’s rivers and seas to the various birds of prey and eaters of carrion that appear like angels of death in our skies to the creeping menace of the smaller predatory creatures that crawl or scurry from under rocks and up over the ground, we have crafted nightmarish tales that stimulate the primitive impulses in our brains. Their lives are daily fights for survival, where directly killing others to live, often their own species, is the norm and the dread of it spilling over into our protected and civilized lives can be chilling. However, we rarely consider the life of the duck with a sense of trepidation. Yet one look at the social life of the domestic duck and you will see a world that, in historical and mythic terms, is comparable to that of barbarian raiders.

I was not unaware of the ferocity that is commonplace in the avian world. Birds of prey and carrion, as we have discussed have long been recognized for the way they mercilessly butcher their fellow birds. They are richly represented in our myths and fiction. Childhood favourites of mine were the villains the Blue Falcon from the first series of Dogtanian cartoons and Owl Capone from Nigel Parkinson’s famous UK comic strip (not the Disney character). Even the non-prey birds haven’t always been given the soft touch either. My primary school once went to see a stage play called “Birds of a Feather”. The story focused a lot on hierarchical pecking orders within a group of anthropomorphised birds all of different species with the villain being a vulture who held the threat of eating the rest of the cast. These other characters then, in turn, held the same threat over the smallest character.

As we naturally anthropomorphize different animal species to fit certain stereotypes, the duck has become the natural jester of the bird world. Their upturned beaks elicit the idea that they might be snobby, but this is then immediately contrasted by their waddling walk and ungainly shape. It does not have the size of the goose or swan, which also have the same shape. All three can be characteristically aggressive and defensive, but in the form of the duck it just seems like a silly blustering little character.

Daffy from Warner Brothers and Donald from Walt Disney are the most recognizable anthropomorphized duck characters. The frantic quacking and swift gait of real ducks probably inspired artists and animators to make Daffy and Donald have highly strung personalities. Daffy is sometimes portrayed as being completely crazy (hence his name), depending on his writer, and arrogant, and Donald is especially quick-tempered and greedy. Both can play the role of the villain and have known to be bullies, although this is usually a very mild and innocuous antagonist who just plays to the Anglo-American love of seeing pompous fools failing.

Daffy has always been a type of anti-hero in the Looney Tunes franchise, stretching that definition to being an outright villain at times. Tex Aviary’s 1937 first incarnation of Daffy saw him earn his name by behaving in a madcap fashion, as he ruined Porky Pig’s duck hunt. Little time would pass before sympathy would often shift over to Porky and Daffy would be cast as the villain. Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones would see two distinct versions of Daffy emerge which have both been accepted in the public consciousness. He can, at times, be seen as a lunatic avenger for justice and also as a sly, embittered glory hound. There have been further variations of both. Both Porky Pig and Looney Tunes’ flagship icon, Bugs Bunny, have easily been the most frequently paired with Daffy over the decades. Porky is often Daffy’s straight man whereas Bugs is his rival. However, despite being the obvious influence for the evil Mogwai/Gremlin, Daffy, in Joe Dante’s collaboration with Chuck Jones for “Gremlins 2: The New Batch”, Daffy has never been considered to be a Looney Tunes villain in the same vein as Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Wile E. Coyote or even Sylvester the cat, who he shares a very similar speech impediment. Even when being bad, Daffy has that Shakespearean Richard III charm that wins us over and we cannot help but laugh with him as well as it him.

Donald, like Daffy, sometimes plays the heel when he is jealous of his particular universe’s top icon. In Donald’s case, it is Mickey Mouse. He has often played the bad guy role in Chip ‘n Dale’s cartoons and also in stories featuring his nephews, although in both cases he also been the innocent victim to their mischief. Despite having a decidedly evil side, often portrayed by a devil duck complete with horns and a forked tail, that is accompanied by a quacking cackle and then finished with the catchphrase “That’ll fix ‘em!”, the very worst we have seen of Donald is his scary fit of madness in “Mickey and the Beanstalk” when starvation drove him to attempt to slaughter Goofy and Mickey’s cow (which is understandable given the circumstances) and in the Machiavellian way he has tricked bees into getting their honey.

Even Danger Mouse’s hugely self-delusional villain, Duckula was such a woefully inept menace that he attracted a sympathetic following and ended up starring as the hero of his own TV series. Sharing Duckula’s desire for fame, Darkwing Duck was a superhero that first appeared in Disney’s “Duck Tales” and then went on to appear in his own TV series. Yet again, we see pomposity as a character trait for a duck character. However, the show did provide us with Negaduck, a bonafide duck villain and the evil doppelganger of Darkwing Duck as well as Quackerjack and others. “Pearls Before Swine” has its Guard Duck with his anger issues and Marvel’s Howard the Duck is also known for his grumpy disposition (not to mention the appalling 1986 movie adaptation). Yet none of them have come close to represent the savage world of the duck as I have seen.

Of course, we have come to have rather warped views of the animal kingdom that are largely based on ancient mythological representation and symbolism of different species, and these have passed down into an accepted law in the magical world of fantasy fiction. Owls are not wise, but have very limited mental capabilities compared to many other birds. Lions are not courageous or regal in their behaviour; rather they prefer to attack as a group and much smaller animals have been known drive them off, resembling behaviours we normally attribute to bullies. The false attributes come from the anthropomorphic qualities we see in their image. An owl’s faces, especially its eyes, make it appear wise and the lion’s mane makes him seem regal. So, the duck is left with its comical pomposity, further extenuated by its diminutive size and yet the world it inhabits is a pretty scary place.

Ducks war with each other all the time. Small factions form with their respective breeds and they drive each other off. Not content with just claiming a piece of land, they will corner, bully and engage in sexual acts that can easily result in the death of their intended target. Ducks often mate in water, so it is not uncommon to see one duck mounting another in a puddle, forcing its head down under the water. Males do this as much to males as they do to females. Any duck that appears to be weak in anyway is regular picked on and we often spend a good bit of time protecting it from the feathered yobs. Whether they gang up on one duck or one duck attacks another, they don’t seem to care. If we were to make an accurate analogy, the ducks resemble marauders. Being natural roamers, fighting over a territory is a very temporary thing. Food is plentiful and abundant in their surrounding area, so it isn’t about that. Although, having said that, there is something to be said for the greedy trait that often crops in anthropomorphised ducks. I have seen these birds lure other ducks and seemingly ambush them, and they all often seem to be on the lookout for trouble. I am not suggesting that they derive anything that humans might interpret as joy out of these violent behaviours.

So I feel it is high time that anthropomorphized animals were revised. We need to start with a clean slate and re-think a universe where animals are represented. I am not making a politically correct request to correct the errors of the past. If you are going to do fantasy you might as well go the full way and accept the ridiculousness of the premise. What I am arguing for is fresh inspiration drawn from artistic impressions we get from the animal world. Look for new metaphors and symbolism. Why does the lion always have to be king? Why does the owl always have to be wise? Surely, this is just lazy plotting.

I put it that it can be done and here and there it has been done with good, if isolated effect. I spent a good period of childhood storytelling, trying to reinvent Richard Adams “Watership Down”. Now there is an example of drawing inspiration from the natural world and totally revising our view of the life of a creature. Prior to Adams’ book and the 1978 feature film, rabbits were never seen as violent creatures. Instead, their big feet, protruding front teeth and long ears made them more comical in our eyes. Uncle Remus’s Brer Rabbit tales certainly showed us the danger and projected the mythical cunning of these animals, both of which Adams ran and hopped with in his Homer-esque saga of rebellious rabbits fighting for survival. However, he also showed us violent issues over territories and the various behaviours they had adopted to survive the numerous threats to their species.

In Adams’ world we could fear rabbit characters like the Black Rabbit of Inlé, a spectral figure of death comparable with the grim reaper, Pluto or Hades, and the story’s main antagonist, the brutal General Woundwort. The original animated movie has scared and still scares people today, with some journalists considering it to be something of a horror film, disguised as a family feature film. Adams created a religion for the rabbits and each warren represented different political ideologies and philosophies. The novel is rightfully considered a classic and at no point did any reasonable critic stop to say, as they did about the unintentionally very silly “Night of the Lepus”, how ridiculous the premise would be to have rabbits depicted as vicious killers.

For the time being, as I return to my marauding tribes of ducks as they descend upon the melee of feeding time and their fellow fowls, I look on the duck characters that come closest to represent the ducks I know. First up, we have Bobby London’s cigar-chomping and lecherous Mr. Duck of the “Dirty Duck” comic strip. He is probably still a tad too sophisticated, but certainly reflects one glaring impulse exhibited by these quacking raiders. Secondly, we have the ex-space pirate, Deadeye Duck from the “Bucky O’Hare” TV series. Pirating certainly seems like a suitable occupation for an anthropomorphised duck. This finally brings us to Kvack, the German pet duck of Helgar, the long-suffering wife of Hagar the Horrible. Kvack might not exhibit any obvious Viking behaviour - she is more of a spy for Helgar and frequently lands Hagar in trouble with his wife - but she, at least, represents that image.

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

As is the fashion of most great British actors, Billie Whitelaw played down her career and her art. She called it a "flibbertigibbety occupation" and, again like so many performers, she lacked confidence throughout her life. She had a stutter as a child and suffered from stage fright. This didn't stop her from becoming one the best possible examples of her profession I have ever seen. She ticks all the boxes one could possibly imagine when it came to the pure art and craft (I consider it transcend both) of acting.

The legendary playwright Samuel Beckett viewed her with such admiration that he wrote roles specifically for her and called her "The Perfect Actress". She certainly suffered for her art in this context. Beckett had her perform a variety of roles where she was severely constrained or required a lot of athletic ability to carry through. In "Happy Days" she played the role of Winnie, where she spends the duration of the two-act play buried up to her "big bosom" in sand. In "Not I" her mouth was the only part of her body on display throughout the whole play. Whitelaw was tested to her physical limits throughout her entire professional relationship with Beckett, which lasted for 26 years and ended with his death.

Billie Whitelaw was one of those actors that just ended appearing in films I have come consider classics. The best film adaptation of Burke and Hare was "The Flesh and the Fiends" and Whitelaw's performance as an ill-fated prostitute stands out alongside Donald Pleasance's eerie William Hare and Peter Cushing's ambiguous Dr Knox. Her role, Mary Patterson, was a real victim of the two multiple murderers, but little is known about her tragic life. Whitelaw provides us with a tragic character who wrestles with the demons of her environment. When a naive and struggling medical student falls for her, she tries to step into his middle class, but immediately feels out of her depth. Through a sense of hurt she returns to her wretched life of drinking and abuse by men, scorning the man who loves her only to end up as a victim of William Hare. Using a strong and convincing Edinburgh accent, and moving changes through wishful thinking to bitter self-destruction, Billie Whitelaw's performance is very believable. Her character is very similar to a role Dylan Thomas wrote in his version of the Burke and Hare story, "The Doctor and the Devils", and I have wondered why few people have made connections between Thomas's play and Gilling and Griffiths's screenplay.

Despite her excellent and very sympathetic performance in this 1960 horror film, it wouldn't be until the 1970s that she would win international acclaim. It was in another horror, "The Omen", where she played the evil Mrs Baylock, the nanny of the Antichrist, Damien Thorn. Her next most memorable role was as the matriarch of the Kray family, Violet, mother to the notorious East End gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray. The film was an even more melodramatic and less historically accurate portrayal of crime than "The Flesh and the Fiends" (which is arguably the closest to the facts any Burke and Hare movie has got), but it had some excellent performances. With an East End accent perfectly in place (Whitelaw originally came from Coventry), Violet Kray is at the heart of the whole film. Her dialogue opens and closes the picture, providing a sinister edge to otherwise very loving words. It gives the film its heart.

She also appeared in the film adaptation of Doug Wright's play, "Quills", which ranks as one of my favourite movies. It's a fictional imagining of the Marquis de Sade's last days in the Charenton Asylum, where Billie Whitelaw plays a blind laundry woman. She is the mother of a maid who has caught the eye of both Sade and the head of the asylum. Although only a supporting role, Whitlelaw plays the role with relish, reflecting the responses the public had to Sade's work.

Billie Whitelaw worked in over 50 movies, but ceased working on stage following Beckett's death. There are few people in her profession that have the sheer range she offered and exhibited.

Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com

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