John's birthday

Well hello everyone!

Sorry for not being around much, it's rather nippy here at present, and my leg doesn't like it, never mind.

Hope you all celebrated John's birthday last Sunday by watching something, i'd love to hear what you all watched. I myself watched three episodes of Redcap series 2, in fact the first three from this series, as i'd heard that Garfield Morgan had died and so i wanted to mark it in some way and didn't at that point want to watch the Sweeney, so i thought Redcap fits the bill. He's very good in the episode he's in called The Killer, sadly he gets killed before the first break, but it's lovely to see him in it. His character calls John's character Daniel for some reason, instead of John!

I've got some idea's that i want to add to the blog and one of them is changing the photos in the slide show, which i'll try and do before John's anniversary next month, though not easy as i'm rather uncomfortable sitting at my laptop, not to mention freezing!

Well that's all for now, take care everyone if the weather is bad where you are, and if you have to go out to drive or walk do it safely till next time bye for now.

Morse writer Colin Dexter cracks the crossword code

Just thought some of you might like to read this, which i got this morning.

Thursday 10th December 2009
By Reg Little

INSPECTOR MORSE creator Colin Dexter has revealed he has had to end his 60-year love affair with crosswords because of failing eyesight. The author, who is approaching his 80th anniversary, was a cryptic crossword addict, but his failing vision has meant he can no longer complete the puzzles.

Mr Dexter, of Banbury Road, Oxford, suffers from a heart condition that has led to trips to the doctor and a recent short spell in hospital. He is also unable to follow TV screenings of Morse and spin-off series Lewis because of his deafness, and is now unable to accept many of the invitations he receives.

He recently had to pull out of a talk, and said: “It is the first time I have ever had to cancel any engagement.” Despite his vision problems, the author, who killed off Inspector Morse 10 years ago in his novel The Remorseful Day, has compiled a book of tips for tackling crosswords called Cracking Cryptic Crosswords, available in shops now.

“It’s only a slim volume, and a few friends have encouraged me to write it before my light goes out forever,” he said. “In addition to the real possibility this pastime offers of escaping the anxieties of Alzheimer’s, it is the most serene and civilised way of wasting time that I, now nearing 80, have as yet discovered.”

The idea for the book came from Mr Dexter’s friend Jackie Gray, a former city councillor and now a successful publisher, who saw the crime writer getting stuck into a crossword on an Oxford to London train. “He completed The Times cryptic crossword in the 15 minutes it took to reach Didcot,” she recalled. “I was in awe. Colin assured me that I could do it too, and then proceeded to tell me how.”

Despite passing on his passion for crosswords to Morse, Mr Dexter revealed he could not persuade John Thaw, the actor who played him, to become an enthusiast. Mr Dexter recounted their last conversation a few days before Thaw died of cancer. “He said, ‘I can never understand why I’m thought of as such a good actor. What I can do much better than others is learn my lines’. It was such a wonderful self-effacing view of his own talent. I loved him for that.”

DVD NEWS!!

Just thought i'd let you of the following dvd's that are due for release next year (2010), these are all UK and they are...

15th February 2010

THE AVENGERS series 3 (John is in an episode called Espirit De Corps) available from play.com for £42.99 and Amazon for £42.98

THE RIVALS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES series 2 (John is in an episode called The Sensible Actions of Lt. Hoist available from play.com for £29.99

22nd February 2010

SGT MUSGRAVE'S DANCE available from play.com for £9.99

If and when i hear of anymore titles being released i will add them to this list, until next time take care everyone.

Monthly challenge - My favourite things

This month (October) was My Favourite Things and i thought long and hard about this challenge before commiting to paper, John would always be my most favourite thing, i couldn't live without him, and though him i got my best friend when we were both on the John Thaw forum, and all that is thanks to my laptop, which gives me a gate to the outside world, because being disabled i don't get out much, and this way i get to see the world! Enjoy.

What made me a fan...

Thought i'd show you what of John made me a fan back in 1973 by way of a scrapbook page, i'm currently on a website called daisytrail.com and every week we do a challenge, this week was MOVIE STARS, so think you can all guess who i did, so here it is, hope you like it.

Squatters wreck £2m home of Inspector Morse

I know a lot of you are Morse fans and thought you might not have heard about this, so i thought i'd post it for you all to read.

By Tim Stewart
21.08.09
Squatters have turned Inspector Morse's once elegant home into an eyesore. Fans of the TV series will remember John Thaw's detective character pulling up in the drive of the large Victorian house in his vintage red Jaguar.

Although the ITV drama - filmed between 1987 and 2000 - was set in Oxford, the house is in Ealing. The property is part of the Castlehill Park Estate, home to Queen Victoria's father, the Duke of Kent.

Members of the Inspector Morse Appreciation Society regularly travel to see the house, which was once worth more than £2million. But they have been horrified to find it is now derelict with boarded-up windows and doors.

The squatters have stripped valuable fittings from the house and left its overgrown gardens strewn with junk furniture and rubbish. The Poles first moved into the property's garages - former stables - last September.

When the weather turned cold, they broke into the house through a back door and up to 15 were living there until they were evicted by owner, Newcastle Building Society, just over a month ago. The society has boarded up the windows and doors to prevent the squatters from returning. Nearby residents have branded the property an "eyesore" and demanded that the building society cleans up the site.

So far, it has failed to remove the rubbish, which includes tatty mattresses, suitcases and a barbecue set. Neighbour of 30 years Don Liyanage, 63, said: "It is such a shame to see a once fine property in such a state. I have seen Inspector Morse Appreciation Society members standing there dumbfounded that such a beautiful house from the show could be reduced to this. I used to enjoy watching the filming and John Thaw was a nice man.

"But now I have a total eyesore next to me. No one has ever paid attention to the elegance of the property and the squatters broke in through the back door and stripped it of piping, fireplaces and other valuable fittings.

"I have complained to Ealing council about the rubbish but they would not tell me who the owner was. I've had to use my own detective skills to even find out who owns Morse's house."
The building society says it plans to renovate the property and has hired renovation company The Haywoods Group with a view to renting it out as flats. A spokeswoman said: "The property was formally taken into possession by Newcastle Building Society during June. The Society will continue with its plans to refurbish the property and the planning permission is in place."

Been a while

Hello everyone
Sorry for not being around much lately, been in rather a lot of pain as the weather here in Manchester isn't tha!t warm for what is supposed to be summer, so i don't sit at my laptop that much.

I'm working (in my head) on projects for the the blog on John to add in hope they will be of interest to you as well as myself, and will when i get chance start putting these on here, they just need a bit more thought.

Also i'm open for any idea's you may have of what you'd like to see here, please email me and let me know and i'll see what i can do, as i have a huge collection on John and thousands of photos i've got enough stuff to keep this blog going for some time yet!
Take care everyone