Thursday 8 August 2019

Tenth Anniversary Recap: 2) Halley's Comet Society Tie

Following on from my mission to revisit previous blog posts from the past ten years we return to April 18th 2013 when I uploaded a post devoted to the history of the now defunct Halley's Comet Society ofLondon and how it had all came about after I had noticed Sir Patrick Moore wearing a blue Halley's Comet Society tie with the society’s '1986' logo embroidered on it in an episode of the Sky at Night from 1982. This society fascinated me and as there was very little about it online I made it my mission to correct this, resulting in a fairly comprehensive post (confirmed by numerous people who have reached out to me since uploading it) and I was so taken by the society that I decided I would like to own my very own society tie and thanks to my creative friends Barry McCabe and Iris Hung I was able to create one bearing the 2061 logo (the year Halley's Comet returns) I have since worn it to astronomy related events and gatherings ever ready to explain what the 2061 stands for! Since uploading I have only ever encountered two 1986 Halley's Comet Society tie owners but discovered that the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich have one in their collection along with thirteen of the '2061' variants! So, what else has happened since uploading that post?

Sir Patrick sporting his 1986 Halley's Comet Society tie
In 2015, Dr Brian May announced the sad news that despite all efforts, plans to convert Sir Patrick Moore’s former home Farthings in Selsey into museum (as Patrick had hoped) the idea had been abandoned due to impractical reasons and so the effects housed within had to be divided up and the house put up for sale and so Patrick’s professional possessions, observations and collection were donated to the Science Museum to be permanently available to scholars along with the promise of a permanent monument dedicated to Sir P. Other items were (quite rightly) donated to the Chichester Planetarium (of which I have also mentioned before on this blog and highly recommend you visit) because as Dr May explained, “This small but busy planetarium is one of the best possible living monuments to Patrick’s lifelong commitment to Astronomy. Every year it gives thousands of young students their first taste of the wonders of the Universe – and doubtless at this very moment is inspiring the next generation of Astronomers – as Patrick himself did for over half a century.” Some of the most salable of Patrick’s possessions were consigned to Christie’s, in London (his trademark monocle sold for £688) with all remaining items to be auctioned off at HenryAdams Auctions in Chichester on the 7th and 8th of October 2015.

Auctioneer Andrew Swain with one of the ten memento boxes

at Henry Adams Auctions, Chichester. October 2015 
Spot the Halley's Comet Society tie?

Many of the effects on offer at the Henry Adams Auction seemed to represent the great man such as his beloved xylophone (which sold for £1,005) his typewriter, orreries and Hawaiian shirts. At the auction 10 limited edition memento boxes were created containing a selection of Patrick’s belongings offering fans the opportunity to acquire their very own keepsake, as I looked through the catalogue there was one box that was of particular interest to me lot: 717. Not only did it have the Hawaiian shirt that he wore during our book launch in 2009 and the evening I proposed to Beth, but also a pewter mug, purse, pipe, paperweight, letter opener, four shot glasses and there among it all was a blue tie with '1986' embroidered on it...   His official Halley's Comet Society tie! I am delighted to say that I was the successful bidder at the auction and I now have my very own Halley's Comet Society tie, the very tie (if not THE tie) that prompted me to research into the society in the first place. Being able to say that I finally have one is fantastic, to know that it once belonged to Patrick makes it all the more special to me, I am delighted with it. Now if I can just figure out what that tie clip he wore was...

© Arfon Jones 2019. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Wednesday 7 August 2019

Tenth Anniversary Recap: 1) Omnibot,Your Plastic Pal Who's Fun to Be With!

This will be the tenth anniversary of starting this very blog and we are just 30 posts shy of reaching the 400th mark so in the run up to that tenth anniversary 400th post milestone I thought I would recap some of the popular posts of the past 10 years. 
When things had become rather hectic for me in the studio I enlisted some help and that help was Omnibot! Having always wanted a robotic sidekick Omnibot (full name Omnibot 5402 RX also known as the “state of the FUN robot”) he did not disappoint. Although he had been in my employ since February that year (after some minor repairs), I devoted a blog post to him on the 5th of September 2018 mentioning how he carries and retrieves objects, answers the phone, sends faxes, brings refreshments and leaves birthday greetings for friends on social media along with the mammoth task of excavating and cataloging my extensive collection of collectibles and memorabilia for our Omnibot’s Robot Root-Out series before listing them on eBay to raise funds for projects and of course not forgetting playing back archival cassette tapes for the YouTube channel
Omnibot gathering my Honey Monster merchandise collection 
As for future updates, not much to tell really he’s still archiving my collection and listing on eBay (time of writing this he is rounding up my collection of Honey Monster merchandise as requested by Kid (right) along with my collection of Snoots cards) but following on from our staff outing to Hooters last December we hope to see him out and about more, so keep an eye out for that.  On a personal level, I have derived great pleasure from this ‘seemingly’ forgotten robot range and always relish discovering more about them, for instance- did you know that Omnibot once appeared in the Beano

On May 16th, 1987 in issue number 2339 Omnibot did just that, appearing with Dennis the Menace in this strip that coincided with the comic’s Tomy competition! Although the cover promotes a "free competition", with Omnibot as first prize (and R.A.T.S. action figures or a Knitting Machine as runners up prizes) the contest would not officially launch until the following issue. In the story drawn by legendary Beano artist David Sutherland we find Dennis, jealously watching Walter the Softy with his robot (planting flowers) wishing he had enough brains to build an Anti-Softy robot when he receives a phone call from the Beano editor- Sure enough, the editor wants Dennis to test out the new Omnibot robot! Dennis makes full use of Omnobot’s remote microphone system having him declare “Out of my way Softy!” before knocking Walter’s robot into the fish pond and loudly blaring a cassette of Dennis and the Dinmakers! We also learn that not even Gnasher’s sharp teeth can make a dent to Omnibot’s outer casing before Dennis’s father intervenes, snatching the remote from Dennis and getting Omnibot to fetch him a glass of milk. The strip was nothing more than a promotional tool for the competition but still a lot of fun never the less!


My sincere thanks to Gavin Williams for bringing this to my attention. 
© Arfon Jones 2019. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

New Video: 'Gentlemen of Horror' Time-lapse Painting

Trying out something different on my YouTube channel, a time-lapse of painting done back in May entitled 'Gentlemen of Horror' a tribute to Vincent Price, John Carradine, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing whose work I have always admired and the now seemingly lost tradition of the late night movie. Every week, growing up, I would seek out their movies located at the very bottom of the TV listings (the TV listings serves as the backdrop of this piece) I hope to feature this painting in my upcoming, self published/ biographical book devoted to my monster memories from the 80’s and 90’s someday- but in meantime here it is as a video, offering an inside into my creative process. I hope to make many more of these videos so click "like" and subscribe and ring that bell to me notified of the next one!

© Arfon Jones 2019. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

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