Bond isn’t black... he’s Elba

Wrote this about Idris Elba as Bond ... got a Guardian pick & 57 likes under my nom de guerre ... 303 Squadron 

Casting Connery in the early 60s was more shocking than casting Idris Elba or Regé-Jean Page now ... Fleming was horrified that his suave English gent was portrayed by a working class, bodybuilding, milk delivering, hirsute Irishman from Edinburgh... For those who say Fleming didn’t write Bond as black ... he certainly didn’t picture coffin polishing, tattooed Big Tam fi Fountainbridge as 007

People don’t compare Bond to Fleming’s fiction ... they always measure him against Connery. And the closest in terms of screen presence, sexual charisma & potential for violence is unquestionably Idris Elba

Going Postal ... my Gmail is pgarethbrown@gmail.com

That’s pgarethbrown@gmail.com 

I’ll repeat for emphasis ... 

pgarethbrown@gmail.com 

Nobody knows anything these days ... 

YNWA 

Mad Men ad break

 pgarethbrown@gmail.com 

Obituary: Stephen Palmer, passionate arts worker who believed in power of creativity

Herald Scotland 

Born: December 28, 1968;

Died: June 7, 2021

Stephen Palmer, who has died aged 52, was a highly regarded and deeply respected arts development officer who made the business of arts funding human, understandable and non-threatening.

My long-term colleague and friend, Stephen was born in Stockton on Tees to parents Barbara and David and was the middle brother of David and Victoria. Following his foundation year at Cleveland College of Art and Design he graduated from Middlesex Polytechnic with a degree in fine art and English. On graduation he secured his first job in the arts at the Dovecot Arts Centre in Stockton where he held a variety of roles including being artist in residence at a local secondary school, teaching print-making to unemployed young people in communities in East Cleveland and managing the gallery and film programmes at the centre. These early experiences seem to have been formative in shaping Stephen’s interests and roles throughout his career, including his passion for working with young people, his belief in the power of creativity to transform lives and his love of film and all forms of contemporary culture.

In 1997, he moved to Scotland securing work as the film development officer at the Macrobert Arts Centre at Stirling University and then as film programmer at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh. He held various temporary contracts including teaching English to visiting students at Esk Valley College and leading community film and animation projects for the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow as part of their ongoing work in promoting cultural diversity. It was also during this period that Stephen met his wife, Pippa Richardson, and she recalls how "he scooped us up, so fun, beautiful and handsome, so kind and gentle. He made us all feel safe, finding and giving joy in the simplest things as well as the most complicated".

In 2004 Stephen was appointed arts development officer at Falkirk Council with a specific remit for promoting and supporting the visual arts and crafts across the region. In addition to strategy and policy work he was the lead programmer and manager of the Park Gallery. Managing the gallery played to Stephen’s strengths and enabled him to develop his curatorial outlook and ambition. He relished the opportunity to develop and present an exhibition programme that introduced audiences to new experiences and perspectives, maintaining an excellent balance between more traditional and more experimental work. He used the role to build relationships with artists at a local and national level, becoming an advocate and champion for their work. So many artists have remarked on the support and advice they received from Stephen, and his exceptional ability to connect people to opportunities, to build knowledge and to nurture confidence.

In 2007 Stephen took up the position of visual arts officer at the Scottish Arts Council and transferred to its successor body Creative Scotland in 2010. He took exceptional pride in his work, whether that was advising an organisation on a significant, multi-million pound development or helping somebody who was starting out at the early stages of their career. Stephen would take the time to understand the needs of other people and to provide them with all the help and advice he could. He was always on the side of those who needed his support and he put his relationships with people in the sector ahead of the bureaucratic necessities of the position he held.

In his role at Creative Scotland Stephen took a strategic lead on a number of policy initiatives but he took a particular interest in the development of curatorial knowledge and believed strongly in the importance of travel to broaden horizons and to encourage connections, leading delegations throughout the UK and to Australia, China, Germany, Istanbul and Venice.

While a keen internationalist, he also had a strong enthusiasm for working at a local level, most clearly evidenced in his development of the Visual Artist and Craft Makers Awards, a devolved programme of small grants managed with 25 partners across the country. These interests and connections were further strengthened in 2016 when he undertook an interim role as head of place, partnerships and communities working closely with local authorities and cultural trusts to support their strategic plans.

Throughout his time in Creative Scotland Stephen maintained his support for young people and always enjoyed providing advice to those just starting out in their career. He was responsible for developing a youth employment strategy working across art forms and establishing a range of apprenticeships and trainee positions. He provided mentorship to young people through Project Scotland and was lead officer for the gallery educators network, Engage. Many artists and curators have expressed their debt to him for helping them navigate those early years in their career.

Outside of work Stephen volunteered as a member of the Panel for Children's Hearings Scotland from 2011 onwards. Those that worked with him remember a man of great integrity and principle, somebody who took great care in managing complex situations and who did a lot of good things for a lot of vulnerable people 

He regularly attended exhibitions and enjoyed travelling, shopping for the perfect things for the perfect price, his family, his dogs, cooking, baking cakes and walking (at the fastest pace). He was generous, kind, handsome and stylish. So stylish, his ability to match his watch with his socks and trainers was legendary.

In late 2019 Stephen was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease but he continued to work throughout his illness providing unstinting support to his colleagues across Creative Scotland and within the wider visual arts community in Scotland. He will be especially remembered for his expansive knowledge and overview of contemporary art and culture, his supportive outlook to others, and his ability to bring humanity and humour into all aspects of the job, no matter how tough or difficult the situation. He was, and will remain, a constant source of encouragement to so many friends and colleagues, helping them to believe in themselves and to take that next step forward.

Stephen is survived by his wife Pip and daughters Phoebe and Billie.

AMANDA CATTO

Touching the Void ~ Ralph B...

He was tough, and he didn’t back down, and he didn’t ever quit. But he did know when to retreat when that was the right thing to do. One of the best stories about him is of the epic retreat from Mont Blanc in 1961. This was when he and my mum and Ken Brannan went to the Alps for a summer of climbing. My dad teamed up with Ken and two American climbers to climb Mont Blanc. While they were on the  mountain, it was hit by an immense storm - blizzard conditions, lightning, Arctic temperatures. My dad and Ken sensed early what was coming, before the worst of it, and said they must turn back. The Americans insisted they should carry on. My dad and Ken prevailed. The full force of the storm came over them before they were safely down, and extracting themselves from the hill turned into an unbelievable test of their courage, and resilience, and mountaineering skill. Two details stand out in my mind: my dad told me about how they’d had to cross back  over a section of path that was now overwhelmed by a flooding waterfall - they could hear boulders being carried down in the flood. They had to cross one by one, belaying one another against the water. The courage it must have taken to get into that water, and the strength it must have taken to survive it. The second detail comes from my mum, who all through this was waiting with the other climber’s wives and girlfriends in Courmayeur, looking up at the mountain and wondering if their men were alive or dead, fearing the worst: she told me how my dad appeared out of the storm, coming towards her, staggering, shattered, exhausted, but determined to make it all the way back and let her know that he was all right. 

Ben B ... Inverness 

By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept.... bazaar part II ... the story continues

Various People on Fathers & Father figures 

“At present there is an alarming scarcity in British life of public figures we revere or admire. Or even like. I can think of very few in politics or the media or business whose example young people might be encouraged to emulate. There is a poverty of inspiration out there. All the more reason why in this era of dire tumult and anxiety we look to someone who has not just authority but common sense, decency, a will to honour the life we have been given, and the wit to enjoy it. Jürgen Klopp isn’t just for Liverpool. He isn’t just for his adoring fans and the quote-hungry sports media either. He is for all of us” 

In memory of Peter Quinn (1930–2019), my dad, who first took me to Anfield, Anthony Quinn 

I’m not that interested in sport, but I’m so glad Jürgen Klopp is in the world and not only because my husband is a Liverpool fan. In the age of Trump and Johnson he delights me as an example of what male leadership can look like: passionate, humorous, generous, kind, driven by humility and integrity and, above all, decency. My husband loads up clips from post-match interviews and match highlights for me to watch and without fail Klopp makes me laugh or my heart swell. 

Lucy Kirkwood, playwright, quoted in the Observer

In 1st position is

Sk8ter boi ...  On his intended letter 

Hey, 

Just read the latest post, 

I’ll try my best to tell that to my father

Pozdrawiam

Maciek 

Kirill has The Cure 

“...Once at, English class I used "sarcasm" and the teacher corrected me with "irony".. did the hell she had the right for such substitution?!..)

11 years ago I was awakened by the doorbell. My friend said “Uncle Kolya has gone..” I wasn’t close to my father those times. But we contacted regularly then, I’ve spoken to him two days or weeks before and hadn’t even a thought that this was for the last time.. can’t remember if any of us used to say “I love you” but we always could rely on one another .. or at least I can say this now. 

And we could be much closer now. And still there are opportunities to say “I love you” that way.

Did I ever send you this ..... the Dropbox thing can wait until I am over 

See you soon”

Godbeer’s daughter on her father 

http://57rulesofmedia.blogspot.com/2011/01/fear-of-godbeer.html

“Hello -

I'm Roger Godbeer's daughter and I just thought I'd let you know that I enjoyed reading your text about my father. My dad passed away unexpectedly a few days before Christmas this year (Dec. 22nd). He was active and energetic right to the end so it was a huge shock to everyone. I did some googling after he died to see if there was anything I could find about him -- he retired before the Internet had taken off, so there wasn't much, but I did come across your blog. Unfortunately I don't think my dad ever saw it but I'm sure if he did he would have had a good laugh about it. I did include some excerpts of your piece in the eulogy I gave for my father as I know my father would have enjoyed it. I think you really captured his work persona. I don't know if you ever got to know him more on a personal note. To his family and friends he was a 'gentle giant'. He was a good man and cared deeply for his family and friends. I know though at work, he was often demanding (but I like to think also fair) and he wanted both to "do the right thing" and "do the thing right".

I really appreciated you writing about him.

kind regards -

Gail”

J.C. Muir on his Great Uncle... 

“... had a great-uncle killed in 1942 in Texas while training for the US air force.  Only found this out last year when going through a box at my mum’s – found the telegram that brought the news.

 

Anyway, not getting maudlin or anything!”

By the Grand Bazaar I sat down & wept

I finally sat down to write this... 

I used to fly back from Moscow & Istanbul to Edinburgh to see my dying father.  I had hours on the plane to tell him how I felt.  You can’t fly direct between those destinations ... so I had additional time with connections to collect my feelings 

I returned to the Scottish capital several times, rented cars, drove home on the bright side of the road

We went to the beach in East Lothian; ... we went to the Trossachs; where I’d been sent Scouting with Johnny, my oldest* friend ... we went to the borders & watched a single engined plane fly down the Glen. It was similar to a Spitfire. My father was born next to the Spitfire factory in Southampton ... Poles flew Spitfires in the Royal Air Force... that’s & why he always appreciated the Polish love of freedom & was happy to be buried next to the Poles on Costorphine Hill

I knew, & he knew ... that he was seeing these places for the last time. And I knew these were the last journeys I’d make with my father 

Our last journey together was to take Inez to the butterfly farm on the outskirts of Edinburgh.  But wee one had fallen asleep before we got there. It was the rhythm of the car, the vibrations, his engineering expertise 

So I suggested to R.D.B that we make the trek to the forest in Peebles to buy a Christmas tree.  This was a ritual we had performed many times when I was learning to drive... & in the years since. It’s a short journey by Russian standards, only 22 miles ... but it’s a twisty wintry road, so it tests all your skills 

I chose a tree, Inez continued to snooze, Dad couldn’t leave the car due to the cancer

We then proceeded to the butterfly farm, Inez awoke with typical tardiness ... & Juanita was probably furious on our return that I’d risked the trip

~

After the funeral; where the only flowers were from my clients in Istanbul (who apparently don’t read the Scottish papers) ... I returned to Turkey ... opened my bank statement, saw the Peebles payment for the Christmas tree ... & wept at my desk

In all these hours  ... & all those journeys ... I never once told him I loved him.  How much I appreciated how he’d supported me... what he’d given me, what he’d taught me 

And in mitigation, he never said he loved me ... or even that he appreciated his granddaughter asleep in the back.  We are Browns; we show our feelings through sarcasm. If you’re not worthy of our wit, we’re not interested in you 

‘You know I love you’ 

It’s easier to say five words than three 

We show our affection through actions. I’d flown back, I got the car, I fought with Juanita for permission for the trips ...

Funny that our final act was killing a conifer tree, a pagan symbol of Winter solstice, hijacked by Protestant Germans, imported to Britain by the Victorians ... & that the only ephemeral foliage at his burial was sent by Muslims ... as he wanted to be stuck under a living tree & have a ceremony without anybody’s Gods 

Dad, I know you didn’t believe in Saints ...but you’ll never walk alone 

*That last line is football pun ... Dad supported SouThamton ... who play in New Delhi... & Andrew my other best friend & a fanatic of St Mirren would be hurt if I described Johnny as my best friend ... although as Jonathan is a March baby & I’m a summer fool ... he is actually my oldest friend as well