Angel's Advocate: Trump

 He has endorsed the right to life (out of Republican political expediency), and wishes to open up all the closed files about the various assassinations including John F. Kennedy. And he also supports further exploration in space.
That's it.

Angel's Advocate: Rishi Sunak

The end may be nigh. The last of a bad line of Conservative Prime Ministers may be hitting the deck, but like his earnest and equally unremarkable predecessor John Major, it won't be for want of trying to please.

People are quick to forget the crisis of Covid and the brief sanctuary of furlough money to those unable to work in lockdown. For all the incompetence and hypocrisy that went on in Government during the Coronapocalypse, the one who saw us through it all ultimately was Rishi Sunak.

When some of the worst ever Prime Ministers were laying waste to their self-respect and the dignity of the office, Rishi I feel was picking up the tab, and certainly is now.

Quad scripsi, scripsi

The recent kerfuffle about the Roald Dahl Estate deciding to release cleaned-up versions of his children's books so they cause less "offence", as well as the estate of Ian Fleming deciding to publish less racist versions of his James Bond books, besides smacking of Orwellian Thought Police in this increasingly 'sanitised' age, but it also brings to mind an occasion when Peter Cushing's likeness was used in Rogue One - with the consent of his estate. 

There were those who objected to the idea of bringing back a deceased actor's face from the grave (although it does have precedents, such as Laurence Oliver in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and goodness knows how many newer versions of Humphrey Bogart), or indeed that the voice  did not resemble the beloved Mr. Cushing. I suspect in his case, he would have been overjoyed at the idea of a Frankenstein-style resuscitation, and would be glad that it gave some work to his fellow British actor Guy Henry, as well as serving as a continuing memento of Cushing's career extending into the 21st century.

At any rate, he would not have minded anywhere near as much as Mr. Dahl or Mr. Fleming. 

Scariest final moments in films

In alphabetical order, I leave viewers unfamiliar with these chilling moments to savour them for themselves, except for the individually illustrated examples: 

Brazil (1985)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919)

Carrie (1976)

Freaks (1932)

The Great Train Robbery (1903)

The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

The Night of the Living Dead (1968)

The Omen (1976)

Planet of the Apes (1967)

Psycho (1960)

Some of them are too downright scary for me to want to show them on this page anyway!

Greavsie

Now that he has finally passed away after a long personal struggle since his stroke in 2015, I find I'm going back to the old video archives of Jimmy Greaves - less of him as a star player for Spurs, Chelsea and West Ham (and also AC Milan, Barnet - right - and even Chelmsford City and Brentwood Town), but of his charisma and often cheeky no-nonsense humour as a TV pundit.

As with Sean Connery, it is intriguing to gauge when exactly the 60s pin-up became a balding veteran. In Jimmy's case the moment of transition was signposted when he dissolved into alcoholism. In his own words, he woke up in the Warley sanatorium and found that 5 years of his life had disappeared.

One of this most moving interviews was a video special with his admirer and co-commentator Brian Moore. It showed not only the Greavsie of the present but also of the reflective past, and displayed what a dynamic competitive sporting brain he had.

One the genuine British blokes. Rest in peace, mate.

Darth Diego

It seems a little distasteful that FIFA should decree that the whole globe should pay tribute to a cheat: Diego Maradona's portentous "Hand of God" scored an illegal goal against England, not spotted by the officials at the time, and certainly disallowed in this more modern era of VAR. (Admittedly, the incident rankles for England fans as much as for West German fans in 1966 when Geoff Hurst's "goal" bounced on the goalline in 1966.) Maybe I'm not such a fan of football to be commemorating Maradona's other achievements. 

That infamous handball was followed minutes later by a flash of brilliance minutes later to win the game 2-1 for Argentina. That was Maradona in essence: the light and the dark.

By contrast, one of the most evil of film villains was actually the most gentle of giants, who also sadly passed away as 2020 continues its cull: like most Star Wars followers, David Prowse was the first of those closely involved with the saga that I first met. He was always generous and outgoing with fans at the many conventions and SW celebrations he attended. The Prowse I saw was a diminished shadow of his former 6 foot 4 self (arthritis took hold of him from the early 1990s), and he liked to spin a yarn or two about the origin of Darth's distinctive rasping voice (an "on-set" artificial respirator), and was also reluctant to disclose that his own quaint Bristol voice had been replaced by another actor (James Earl Jones of course). His physique and his sense of agile menace were key to the success of Darth Vader, however, and like his fellow Star Wars (and Hammer) actors, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, Prowse was the most meek and delightful of persons, belying the rogue characters they were famous for playing.

Cultural Highlights of the 2010's

 A bleak decade on the whole, the bleakest part being the last four years of the accursed "Brexit". These were the happier moments whether socio-political or cultural, at least for me during the decade,:

2010: Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Britain
2011: New York visit
2012: London Olympics & Paralympics
2013: Pass the Butler (Box Office for Headgate Theatre)
2014: Manchester visit (including Victoria Baths and The Wizard of Oz in 3D at Odeon Printworks) and The Shawshank Redemption at Plaza Stockport
2015: The Thrill of Love (Headgate Theatre)
2016:  100th anniversary of Walter Lazell's death in WWI, visiting Ypres and Vermelles (see also Ypres)
2017:  Pygmalion (Chameleon's Web)
2018: 40 Years of Young Musician of the Year BBC Prom
2019: The Fantastic Mr. Fox (Chameleon's Web)