Tag Archives: Cinema

M*A*S*H And The Moon Landings

I’ve got into the habit of checking what the Internet Movie Database has to say about films after I’ve watched them. After rewatching Robert Altman’s 1970 classic M*A*S*H, I happened on something odd in the film’s “Trivia” section at IMDb: The loudspeaker shots and announcements were added after editing had begun, and the filmmakers realized … Continue reading M*A*S*H And The Moon Landings

Airfix 1/24 Wallis WA-116 Agile Autogyro: “Little Nellie”

This kit was first released fifty years ago. It’s a model of a real aircraft, the Wallis WA-116 Agile autogyro, designed by Ken Wallis and built in extremely limited numbers (five!) in 1962. It achieved fame because one aircraft, G-ARZB, was kitted out with some splendid yellow-and-silver livery and simulated weapons for the 1967 James … Continue reading Airfix 1/24 Wallis WA-116 Agile Autogyro: “Little Nellie”

James Shapiro: Contested Will

There is nothing in the writings of Shakespeare that does not argue the long and early training of the schoolman, the traveller, and the associate of the great and learned. Yet there is nothing in the known life of Shakespeare that shows he had any one of these qualities. “James Corton Cowell (1805)” James Shapiro … Continue reading James Shapiro: Contested Will

Cary Elwes: As You Wish

Rest well, and dream of large women. If the quotation above doesn’t immediately ring a bell, then this book may well not be for you. How about: There’s a shortage of perfect breasts in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours. Or, indeed, the title of this book: As you wish. They’re … Continue reading Cary Elwes: As You Wish

Martin Caidin: Marooned

Not a series of novels, but two rather different novels, by the same author and with the same title, written five years apart. Martin Caidin (first) wrote Marooned in 1964. The novel concerned the fate of an astronaut trapped in orbit by the failure of the retro-pack on his Mercury spacecraft. I encountered it in … Continue reading Martin Caidin: Marooned