James Clay Stuff

July 23, 2015

Spectre

Well the new trailer for the new James Bond film has been released and I am somewhat a little bit excited for this new instalment.

Spectre is of course the name of the original bad guys who were outside the traditional government spy agencies. I recently rewatched From Russian with Love with Sean Connery where the bad guys were Spectre, as James Bond steals a KGB encoding machine from the Russians, not realising that this was all part of a Spectre plan.0

The new film, looks like it will build on the foundations laid down by the previous Bond films, but will reboot Spectre in the same way they have with other aspects of the Bond universe in the other Daniel Craig films.

Looking forward to it.

July 22, 2015

Shaun in the Centre

Over the weekend we were at the Bristol Harbour Festival and managed as well as everything else, to get a few more Shauns into the visit.

55. Please Stand By

Those people who have never seen the BBC Testcard may have no idea why this Shaun is painted as he is. Like other test cards, it was usually shown while no programmes were being broadcast. In today’s world of 24 hour TV, we no longer experience the “joy” of watching the testcard and getting freaked out by that clown and little girl (oh then again go and watch Life on Mars).

54. Shaun on the Cob

On a previous visit to Marks and Spencers , Shaun on the Cob had been replaced by the Temporary Shaun while he received some tender loving care (fixing the vandalism). This vegetable sheep is very well painted and cleverly done.

25. King Arthur of Lambelot & Excalibaaar

Over by the Cathedral is not just a Shaun, but also a sword. As it was really busy in Bristol on that day, I found it challenging to get a photograph of the sheep and the sword (you can just see a little hand in the picture) so may go back another day when it is quieter to grab a better shot.

68. Willow

Willow stands next to St Mary Redcliffe church and looking very nice in the sun.

Here is the page of all the Shauns we have captured so far.

July 18, 2015

Tranquil Knightstone Island

Marine Lake isn ot quite still enough for a perfect reflection, but still enough to reflect.

The tide was in, which always seems like a rare occurrence in Weston super Mare, even if it does happen twice a day. This is mainly due to the how far the sea goes out at low tide.

July 17, 2015

Temporary – Shaun in the City

Despite they’ve only been in the city for a while, at least one of the Shauns as been damaged and has been taken away for some TLC. So not to disappoint people, a temporary green Shaun is put in place, until the original has been fixed, repaired and then returned.

I also took some new shots of two I have already photographed, not sure why.

Another shot of the Great West Shaun

Also another of Bagpuss

See my page of all the Shauns I have captured so far.

July 12, 2015

Ten out of Seventy – Shaun in the City

At the weekend in the sun we were in Bristol, one of the little ones was spending some of her birthday money. While we were there we started finding and ticking off the seventy Shaun the Sheep sculptures that have been placed around the city.

In 2015, Shaun the Sheep stars in two ewe-nique charity arts trails across Bristol and London, organised by Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation – introducing, Shaun in the City!

From 6th July to 31st August, the charity are bringing 70 b-ewe-tiful giant Shaun the Sheep sculptures, created by artists, designers and celebrities, to iconic locations and green spaces across Bristol for the public to enjoy. Back in spring, our first flock of 50 entirely ewe-nique Shauns arrived in London on 28th March and made the capital’s pastures their home until 31st May.

I have created a page to record all the Shauns we find and here are the first ten.

56. Cecilia

Cecilia is a very “traditional” Shaun the Sheep, he looks like a sheep wearing a quilted vest!

57.Baguss Shaun

Is this Shaun or Bagpuss, clever painting makes this look more like a cat than a sheep. Of course, when Bagpus goes to sleep, all his friends go to sleep…

58. Lily

Munching on the grass, Lily appears to be quite at home on Lower Castle Street.

58. Lily

59. Knitwit

Slightly crowded off on Saturday by the fencing surrounding the Pride festival, this multi-coloured sheep certainly didn’t look out of place next door to the festival.

62. Alright me Babber?

A challenging sheep to photograph, not just because like us everyone was trying to take a photo of Shaun, but also with all the train travellers attempting to leave and arrive at Bristol Temple Meads.

63. The Bristol Express

Can we make Shaun look like a railway line? Well we can try…

64. Great West Shaun

Shaun looks better as a train, complete with smoke, steam, buffers and a boiler.

65. Rose

Looking very much like a painted canal boat next to the river by Valentine’s Bridge (which I now know is called Valentine’s Bridge).

65. Rose

66. Bingo

Next to quite a busy road, Bingo is a colourful addition.

67. Sheepish

We nearly missed this one, we didn’t have a map with us at the time, but I saw a load of people crowded into Temple Church Gardens and I wondered what they were doing, then I noticed the pink. Here we have Shaun attempting to be a pink poodle…

So ten down and sixty to go….

July 2, 2015

15 Classic Cars in Weston-super-Mare

So let’s be frank about this, I really don’t know that much about classic cars, however I have recently thought it would be nice to own an old classic motor.

These photographs were taken at a recent classic car event in Weston-super-Mare, I can guess what some of them are, but please add a comment if you are more confident than me in what they are.

1. 1931 Austin Seven Swallow

2. An American car of some kind… 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air – 938 XUP

3. Who knows, but nice wheels! Chevrolet – SV 6473

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4. 1950s car, Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire – 172 CEV

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5. A blue car…

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6. Another classic, 1920s or 1930s?

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7. A Rolls Royce from the 1970s…

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8. Hmmm, 1949 Riley 1.5 Litre – KXN 114

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9. Okay, so I know the sun glare doesn’t help… Riley – RDV 566

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10. This one I am pretty confident is a Morris Minor 1000 Traveller.

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11. Bodie and Doyle would like this Ford Capri

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12. Another American car, calling Dick Tracey, calling Dick Tracey…

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13. A wedding car…

14. Willys Jeep

15. Custom BMW Mini.

So can you help me out, please add a comment if you know what some of these cars are.

June 28, 2015

Grease Lightning…

The photograph is from the 1988 production of Grease at the University of York, the car nearly did drive off the stage…

It was a nightmare getting the car, a fantastic red Triumph Herald, on stage, as tit had to be manhandled up the stairs to the first floor where the stage was. The engine luckily had been removed.

On the first night during the Grease Lightning song, the car was pushed from the back of the stage to the front, at which point the bloke driving the car couldn’t see the edge of the stage and nearly “drove” into the orchestra pit! I don’t think the audience noted, but you could tell the orchestra did, as the music went off key ever so slightly, as some of the musicians got scared of getting crushed!

I wasn’t in the production, something to do with the fact I couldn’t sing or act… however I was part of the team that sold tickets and managed the event on the days the musical was staged, so I got to see it every night it was on.

Nearly thirty years later, your mind will recall things slightly differently to the way that it happened, my memory recalls the performance as been very professional and really good. Great music, wonderful singing and a memorable performance.

Sadly I have no memory for names, so couldn’t tell you who is in the picture.

June 14, 2015

Torbay Express June 14th 2015

The steam engine Britannia was hauling the Torbay Express this morning on it’s way to Dartmouth from Bristol Temple Meads.

May 30, 2015

Another man too stupid to use hat….

One of the most popular posts here is this one.

Would appear that the man in that photo is not alone…

April 27, 2015

The view from Blackpool Tower

Back in February, we had a holiday in the North-West visiting Manchester, Liverpool and Blackpool. My first time to this seaside resort, and mid-week in February was probably quite a nice time to visit, hardly any crowds and no traffic.

We did go up the Blackpool Tower, which in my opinion isn’t cheap, but we had some tokens from cereal boxes which reduced the overall cost.

The weather was nice, so we had some really nice views from the top.