JAMES MAY'S TOY STORIES - CLASSIC COLLECTIBLE TOYS

I recently had the pleasure of watching James May's Toy Stories. It's a fantastic journey through the various classic toys of our past.

It is an inspiration, and a credit to James, to see how the local communities come together to participate in his challenges. Young and old, male and female, experienced and novices. All want to be a part of it. And all want to see it through to the very end.

• Episode 1 - AIRFIX - James constructs a full-size (scale 1:1) model Spitfire. Making full-sized pieces from fibreglass comes with its own set of challenges.



• Episode 2 - PLASTICINE - Follow the Paradise In Plasticine entry into the 2009 Chelsea Flower Show. The Officials have never seen anything like it, and don't quite know what to make of it. James hopes to win a prize none-the-less.



• Episode 3 - MECCANO - Follow the design and construction of a 23m (75ft) bridge in Liverpool. With the help of Architecture students and design & engineering consultants, this is a challenge like no other.



• Episode 4 - SCALEXTRIC - A 4.4 km (2.75 mile) track along the old Brooklands Motor Racing Circuit. 400 volunteers help with this record-breaking challenge - a race between the residents of Brooklands and the "Scalextric Professionals".



• Episode 5 - LEGO - A full-sized house, built using 3.3 million lego bricks. This challenge is not only to constuct a life-sized house, but also for James to spend the night in the house.



• Episode 6 - HORNBY - James' model train layout sees a Hornby train set make its way along a 10 mile (16 km) stretch of track from Barnstaple to Bideford. The disused train site provides many obstacles to the modern model train track layout - roads, fences, water and vandals.
  Five trains set out from Barnstaple - James' own Flying Scotsman model, a passenger steam train, a passenger diesel train, a goods diesel train, and the prototype of Hornby's Hitachi Class 395 "Javelin" model. Only one of these trains makes it to Bideford.

JAMES MAY'S TOY STORIES

• BOOK - The Nile (au bookstore), Amazon UK, Amazon USA
• DVD - Fetch DVD (au), Amazon UK, Amazon USA

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MY TOP FIVE FAVOURITE OLD-TIME CLASSIC MOVIES

Just for a bit of fun, I thought I'd share with you my favourite OLD movies.

1. AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER
   1957, Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr
   I love the old-time feel and the romance of the movie.
    
2. TWELVE ANGRY MEN
   1957, Henry Fonda, E.G. Marshall, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Klugman, Ed Begley, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Edward Binns, Joseph Sweeney, George Voskovec, Robert Webber.
   The movie was remade in 1997, with another amazing cast and just as powerful.
    
3. THE CHINA SYNDROME
   1979, Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas
   The suspense, the fear of the topic, the good guy doing all he can to do the right thing.
    
4. SILKWOOD
   1984, Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher
   Again, the fear of the topic. The very ordinariness of the characters (they could be you or me) caught up in a bad situation.
    
5. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
   1962, Gregory Peck, Robert Duvall
   Not a lot of cast, not a lot of sets, but a gripping story.
    
6. CAT BALLOU
   1965, Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Michael Callan
   A fun romantic comedy with the ever-lovely Jane Fonda.

Okay, so there were six. I squeezed in an extra one.

What are your favourites?
 

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BIG BOOK O' DAYS ~ 14 APRIL ~ TITANIC

1912 - The luxurious and unsinkable Titanic hit an iceberg, eventually sinking, killing 1517 people. The Titanic departed on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, bound for New York City, New York, on Wednesday, 10 April 1912. On 14 April 1912, the temperatures had dropped to near freezing. In response to iceberg warnings, Captain Smith altered Titanic's course about 20 km south of the normal shipping route. At 1:45pm, a message from the steamer Amerika warned that large icebergs lay in Titanic's path, but this warning, and others, were never relayed to the bridge. The ship hit an iceberg shortly after 11:40pm on the 14th, buckling the hull in several places and popping out rivets below the waterline over a length of 90 metres. The watertight doors closed as water started filling the first five watertight compartments, one more than Titanic could stay afloat with. The huge volume of water weighed the ship down past the top of the watertight bulkheads, allowing water to flow into the other compartments. In all, 1517 people were lost in the disaster, whilst only 706 survived. Most of the deaths were caused by victims succumbing to hypothermia in the -2°C water.
Visit Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition in Melbourne - 14 May to 17 October 2010.

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CLASSIC STYLE

When I think of classic style, I think of Donald Draper from Mad Men, or Dr Frasier Crane, or Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, or even further back to Upstairs Downstairs - even the butlers looked immaculate. It's a stark contrast to today's falling down, sloppy jeans and faded t-shirts. In today's world, comfort has taken priority over style. Not that style was uncomfortable. Today is more about me and how do I feel, rather than how do I present to others.
Well-dressed gents were an awesome sight. I wish the trend-setters would turn back the clock a little. A dashing young man in a three piece suit is a sight to behold.
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HATS - FROM DAYS GONE BY

Do you think hats will ever make a comeback? I know there are hats here and there, but not like they used to be. Remember The Big Chill... "I think the man in the hat did something bad." ... pan across to the TV set and every man in the room is wearing a hat. Where did those days go? Back in the days of the old black & white movies, there was a grace, an air, a sense of pride in dressing well.
And no, a baseball cap facing backwards doesn't count.
Do you think hats will ever make a comeback?

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