Sylvia Anderson at the Hendon RAF Museum

Having watched Manchester City win the FA cup at Wembley, I had a rather different evening planned. My old mate Boz Boorer (Polecat & Morrissey guitarist) had rang me earlier in the week to ask if I'd seen that Thunderbirds producer Sylvia Anderson was speaking at the Hendon RAF museum. I hadn't. As both Boz & myself grew up loving the work of the Andersons, it was a must see. Boz noted on his Facebook page that the ticket stated that if Sylvia couldn't make it, they could substitute her with someone else. We speculated. Maybe it would be Laurie Anderson? or even worse Arthur Anderson.

We turned up shortly before the scheduled start time. We were greeted with a display case with various Anderson memorabilia and a couple of Anderson experts observing "That one's not original". Ten minutes after the scheduled start time, a rather official looking figure who appeared and said "Sylvia is in the building, but she's adjusting her dress". Given our earlier speculation, we chortled. Sadly no talk on financial planning from Arthur. Then Sylvia arrived.

A short preamble was given. A rundown of her post Gerry era work, including boxing for HBO.  Then a clip of the highlights of her work. It's fair to say that whenever I hear the opening sequence of Thunderbirds, I always feel a tingle of excitement. As a boy, Thunderbirds had everything. Rockets, explosions, actions, humour. The goodies always won and the day was always saved. I often speculated what the relationship between Jeff Tracey and Lady Penelope. Perhaps my favourite character was Parker, lady Penelope's butler. In one episode, he saves the day by picking the lock of a safe at the Bank of England, to release some trapped officials, just before the oxygen ran out. The bank decide to revert to the old safe, because it took Parker 2 hours to crack it, rather than the 30 seconds it took to crack the new one. Parker wryly observes to Lady Penelope that the other one only took 2 hours, because he was "putting on a show".

Sylvia talked us through how she joined the company to earn some spare cash, whilst studying at the LSE. She explained how they'd got into puppetry by accident. They had got some work because they were cheap. She explained how each series was a progression from the previous. Clips were shown of the early work, such as Supercar and fireball XL5. She explained how Stingray became the first colour TV show on UK television, as Lou Grade wanted to sell it to the USA.

She explained that to her, Thunderbirds was the pinnacle of the Anderson work. She told how Barry Gray, the composer of the music, lived at home with his mum and used to compose the scores in his head. I'd say that the music from the Anderson series were probably the finest theme music of all. She explained how they improved the process of puppetry, by installing a TV monitor, so the puppeteers could watch their work.

She then went on to discuss Captain Scarlett and Joe 90. She clearly didn't hold them in quite the same affection as Thunderbirds. She did make the point that one of the groundbreaking points in Captain Scarlett was that the Angles (fighter pilots) were all women. She also stated that they always had a multi racial aspect to the casts, as they wanted a global appeal.

Then onto the later series with actors. Some clips were shown of UFO. Sylvia commented that the costumes were very dated looking. She also noted that Ed Bishop (who played Commander Ed Straker) had to wear a blond wig and make up. She said he'd play his role, whip off the wig, scrub off the make up and no one would recognise him. She told how Lou Grade got her to dispense with the services of Peter Gordeno (original Skydiver pilot) because he didn't think it was right to have a dancer playing the role. She also explained how Michael Billington got the role as Gordino's replacement.

She then went on to discuss Space 1999. She commented that Michael Landau and Barbera Bain were at times "difficult", noting that they required  a chauffeur to drive them the 5 minute walk from their trailers to the film sets.

Then there was a Q&A session. One punter asked if there was any reason why so many characters in Anderson series were single parent families "No, you are reading too much into it". One member of the audience told how they'd hired a pay as you go colour telly from Rediffusion, purely to watch Stingray in colour. Half way through, the money ran out and no one had another thruppence.

Afterwards, Boz & myself bumped into another ex Polecat, Tim, who is also an Anderson nut. Tim lives in the USA, but had noticed the event at the last minute. Tim is into film production and was made up to meet Sylvia. We had a drink at the museum bar and did a quick tour of the exhibits. As both Boz and myself had dad's who were in the RAF in the second world war, we have a special affection for the museum. Both our Dads were shot down & Boz's spent five days in a liferaft (which there is an example of in the museum). Sadly my Dad's old plane, the Wellington, is away for repairs.

The idea of such events at the museum is brilliant. After we bought Sylvia's book and got them signed by Sylvia, we adjourned to the pub. It was a very different way to spend a Saturday evening. I have a confession to make. UFO by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, is my favourite ever TV series. It was made in 1969, the year Manchester City last won the FA Cup. As a City fan, I really couldn't think of a more perfect way to celebrate the success of the team. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson were a massive part of my childhood. I cannot imagine growing up without series such as Thunderbirds. When Sylvia signed my book, I forgot to thank her for that, so if you are reading Sylvia, thanks.

One final note : The RAF museum is one of the worlds greatest museums and it's on our doorstep. I urge everyone to support it and oppose any attempts to charge an entrance fee. In our efforts to support and promote the museum, the Mill Hill Music Festival organising committee have booked Jacqui Dankworth to play at the museum on Friday 1st July. Please click the link in the sidebar for more details.

The truth about the Bunns Lane UFO Crash

I suppose that after all of these years, it's time the truth about the Bunns Lane UFO crash is told. Sometime in the mid/early seventies at about 8pm on a winter Saturday night, there was a huge explosion in Bunns Lane Works. A massive mushroom cloud of fire lit up the night sky, windows shook for a mile and the bang & flash was seen in Colindale. Within minutes the police, the fire brigade and all sorts of dodgy officials turned up and sealed the area off. Bodies were removed and wreckage taken to a secret MOD base. The official cover up story? Kids had been playing with fireworks.

That's the myth that has lived locally. I can tell the truth. I come from a family of pyromaniacs who are obsessed with explosives. I don't share this obsession, but I suspect it stemmed from my dad. He flew Wellington bombers in the second world war and used to speak with awe about the feeling of dropping a 4,000 bomb or blowing up a Romanian oil refinery "You could see the fire for a hundrerd miles" he'd tell us. My oldest brother has a massive collection of legal firearms. He spends every spare hour hurtling around the fields of Hertfordshire shooting anything that moves. My other brother has even bigger targets, he became a rocket scientist and designed bits for the space shuttle. They all love big bonfires.

As a kid, my Dad taught us to make nitroglycerene before he taught us to read. He loved nothing better than tosssing a stick of dynamite in a lake to catch fish. In Blackall, Queensland Australia where he was raised on a goldmine, this was seen as quite normal behaviour for young boys.

Anyway one lovely winter evening in the early/mid seventies, he said "Jump in the car, I've got a treat for you". Whenever he said this, you knew it was something really special. We went and got some Kentucky fried chicken and spare ribs from Colindale, then drove to his workshops in Bunns Lane. He ran a car repair business. One of his biggest problems was disposal of waste thinners. This was rather expensive. Thinners is highly flammable and can't be poured down the drain. He had a novel solution. There was some disused railway land in Flower Lane, which he rented some of as a car park (where the warehouses are now). He had taken several 40 gallon drums of thinners, 3/4 emptied them and then we retreated to a safe distance. We threw the bones of the chicken and the spare ribs on top and retreated to a safe distance. He then produced several firework rockets and aimed one at the cans, using a hand held launcher he'd made. With the words "never tell a soul about this", he lit the rocket. Have you ever experienced a major explosion at close range? It sucks all of the air out of your lungs. Your eyeballs feel like they are going to pop out. For 5 or 6 seconds you are completely disorientated. All I can remember is a huge fireball making its way into the night sky. We'd cracked many windows in the yard. At that he whooped with laughter and said "Job done, we'd better get out of here". At which we jumped in his turbocharged Ford Capri Mark 3 and sped home. He said "Under no circumstances tell your mum".

I forgot about it until early 1980. I was at a party and I asked an old stoned hippy if he fancied coming down to watch our band rehearse at our newly opened studio in Bunns Lane. He said "I avoid there, it's a bad place". I enquired, he replied "A UFO crashed there a few years ago. We were having a smoke in Flower Lane Park. We saw the whole thing. UFO land, a huge mushroom cloud, a massive bang. The old bill sealed off the area and took away the bodies and debris. Afterwards we crept in and found some bones and some melted metal. The old bill put out a cover story that they found fireworks and it was kids".

I told my Dad this. He laughed. The old bill had contacted him and said that they'd had a report that kids had been playing with fireworks and made a fire. I kept my mouth shut about it, till today. I wonder if the truth about Roswell is so mundane.

I don't know what revolts me more, the American military or our Government

Just suppose you got home to find that someone had been in your house. Just suppose that you'd left the front door wide open and they'd walked in. Just suppose they'd left you a note on the table calling you an idiot for not taking care of your property. Just suppose they'd accidentally knocked a vase over and spilled some water on the kitchen floor. Just suppose you knew they'd looked through all your stuff, but clearly hadn't pinched anything. How would you feel? You'd probably call the police. When they saw the note saying that you'd left the door open, would you feel a bit stupid. After a while you might think that maybe the snooper had actually done you a favour. I'm pretty sure that PC Plod would tell you that you were pretty lucky and should be grateful that the visitor wasn't someone with more malicious intent.

How would you feel to find out that a snooper with special needs had done just that to the US military computer network. He'd been looking for evidence of aliens and found out that the Yanks couldn't be bothered to use proper passwords. He left messages on their computers saying that their security was rubbish. How did the US military react? Did they sack the people who'd exposed us all to the risk of world war 3 by their negligence? Did they immediately offer the guy a few thousand quid to test the rest of their network security. Did they send him a thank you for showing them that they were risking all of our lives?

Nope, they've spent the last few years trying to extradite him from Great Britain so they can jail him for up to 60 years. You see the bully boy US military don't like being made to look stupid. They don't like the fact that a guy in his flat in North London showed the rest of us that they weren't fit to run a whelk stall. That's why they are persecuting Gary McKinnon, an aspergers sufferer from North London. He though that the US government was hiding evidence of Alien life and contact, so he hacked into their system. He did it from his bedroom. He didn't conceal the fact. He left anti American messages on the systems and he left messages telling them how bad their security was. Uncle Sam doesnt' like it. As if that isn't bad enough, our own government is complicit. The useless and cowardly W*******rs who run our government bleat that "we've signed a treaty, there's nothing they can do" (shame on you Alan Johnson).

Well there is something quite simple they could do. They could ring up President Obama and tell him that Gary McKinnon did him a favour and that their persecution of him offends natural justice. They could tell Mr Obama that he should prosecute the people who were paid a small fortune to set the systems up and left us all vulnerable to terrorist activity by not using proper security systems. They could tell Mr Obama that we'll never deport Mr McKinnon because the extradition treaty was designed for terrorists and criminals.

I don't know what I find more revolting, the attitude of the US authorities in trying to blame Mr McKinnon for something which any fair minded person would instantly see is their own fault for being so crap or our government for going along with it. Lets face it, what will the Yanks do if they get really pissed off with us. tell us to take our boys home from Afghanistan so they can keep all the casualties to themselves?

Please can you do something for me. Can you write to your MP if he's Labour and tell him what you think of the spineless creeps in his Govenrment who have allowed this to go on for so long. If you live in a Lib Dem or a Tory Constituency, can you write to Gordon Brown and tell him that you think his behaiviour in this affair is shameful and it's time he showed a little bit of backbone.

Oh and just in case you wondered, I once hacked the US Military system and downloaded all the files on Alien encounters, it is absolutely ... Sorry I'll get back to you in a minute, someone has just knocked on the door.

Weird goings on in Watford !!!!!

Now those of you who follow my blog will know that I always post something a bit different on a Saturday. This week it is as different as it could be. Please don't read on if you are of a nervous disposition !!!

My big brother once spent a whole evening sitting in a field in Somerset waiting for a UFO to appear. Apparently UFO's had been seen there every night for a few weeks. Around 9.30pm my brother decided that the Aliens weren't coming and adjourned to the pub with his friends. By the time they re-emerged it transpired that they'd missed some rather spectacular sights. They were told "It was awesome, first one, then two, then three lights appeared. They hovered their for 5 minutes and then disappeared". Laurie later confessed he wasn't too disappointed to have missed it, having enjoyed thawing out in a nice warm pub.

I'm a bit of a natural cynic. I always look for a logical explanation for anything and usually there is one. Don't get me wrong, I think it is quite likely that life could exist elsewhere in the universe, but hey, if you can master interstallar travel, would you really want to visit a planet which decides to make George Bush the most powerful man? Having said all of that an extremely bizarre incident happened to me a couple of years ago, which I have never been able to find a rational explanation for. I've not really discussed this with anyone and I am quite happy for anyone to add their tuppence worth. Unlike my brother it didn't happen in a field and I wasn't looking for aliens. See what you think?

I go to the gym every day apart from Thursdays and Sundays when I play 5 a side football. On a saturday though, I have a day off from it and I go for a sauna and a Jacuzzi. I use the Seb Coe club on the A41 on a Saturday as it is reasonable and the members are friendly. I always start with a 15 minute Sauna. About two years ago, I settled down for my session and set the egg timer. After about 10 minutes another guy came in (he seemed quite normal) and after a couple of minutes asked "Would you mind if I put some oil on the stove". This again is quite normal, usually people put Eucalyptus oil on. They put a few drops in some water and pour it on the coals. I replied "No problem". He did this. Immediately I noted the extremely strange smell of the oil. I genuinely couldn't place it. I asked "What is the oil, I don't recognise the smell". He laughed and said "It reminds me of home". I asked "Where's that then" The guy had a fairly standard, non dispcript English accent. He replied "A very long way away". fair enough I thought. He then said "do you mind if I put some more water on the stove". Again not a problem, I don't particularly like a very hot sauna, but as he'd asked politely I said "Yeah, fine". The guy got the ladle of water and very deliberately put his hand above it when he poured the water on. As a result a big cloud of steam enveloped his hand. Now I've done this accidentally and it really hurts, but he'd just done this deliberately, clearly to catch my attention. I thought "This guy isn't all there". He looked at me and said "It doesn't hurt, I come from a much warmer place". He sat down and clearly was fine. I said "so where is that?" He replied again "A very long way away, I'm here as an observer". Now not being sure what was going on, I thought I'd try humour, so I said "Oh, your an alien then". He replied "Something along those lines". Now as I said, I'm a rather suspicious person, but I'd just seen the guy put his hand in a cloud of steam, that would have fried a normal person, so I thought I'd play ball. "Do you like it here then" I asked. "No not really" he replied, he went on "You see if you took your greatest ever mathematician, where I come from, his understanding would be less of that than say a fairly average five year old". So I asked "So is there anyone from here that you admire?" He replied "We think quite highly of Mozart". So they like the arts. I asked "What about painters?". he replied "Picasso and Matisse are quite interesting". I then said "What about the food?". He replied "Well the organic dark chocolate and organic oranges are tolerable". At this I realised that with all of the water on the stove, my brain was boiling. Much as I would have loved to have carried on the conversation, I excused myself to take a dip in the pool.

As I was cooling down, my new found alien friend left the sauna and went to the changing room (not a bead of sweat on him). So there you have it. The only good things about planet Earth are Mozart, Picasso, Matisse, Oranges and chocolate (he clearly hadn't tried beer or listened to punk rock !!!)

All the questions I thought I'd ask an alien, I completely forgot (was Jesus an Alien? was Roswell true? Did Atlantis really exist?). So there you go? Do I really think he was an alien? who know's. What would he be observing in Watford? That really is a puzzle? Do Aliens really like Chocolate or are they just wind up merchants? Now that is the question I'll lose sleep about !!!!!