Young, Optimistic and strategically positioned to hide
the naked Madonna poster on my door...
A new segment for 2017 not
too dissimilar to my irregular 'from the vaults' feature only focusing
on my appearances in the press over my career. Our first one takes us
back to Thursday the 3rd of July 1997 when I was featured in the
Cambrian News the second largest newspaper in Wales.
An 18 year old
me featured in their press pack segment announcing that I was to have
a weekly comic strip in the paper the following week called, The Adventures of Vincent T Vulture (more on that in
the 'from the vaults' post).
As I said in my previous post a technical fault had arisen resulting in two
posts disappearing 'Happy Birthday RolandRat!' posted back on the 12th of March 2014 and 'Arfon’s
Sponsored Friday the 13th Movie Marathon: CONCLUSION' originally posted on the 15th of November 2015 fortunately I am
able upload them again but unfortunately it created some dead links and
ruined the continuity... anyway, here it is again! Well I did it! I completed my Sponsored
‘Friday the 13th Movie Marathon’ challenge and it was a great
success I watched all 12 Friday the 13th movies back to back from
9:am Friday 13th to 5:30am Saturday 14th It took 20 and a half-hours
to complete raising a total of £265 for Children in Need and every
penny goes towards helping disadvantaged children across the UK! My
sincere thanks to everyone that sponsored me thank you for your
generosity! Thanks to everyone that helped spread the word and
posted encouraging messages throughout the day! And a big thank
you to my daughter for keeping out of the room and getting me a pizza
and Mrs Jones for bringing me cakes from her Children in Need bake
sale (of which they raised £200 for Children in Need!). As promised,
I posted photographs of my progress during the day on Instagram.
Friday 13th 9:00am -
Friday the 13th (1980) - 10:40am Friday the 13th Part 2
(1981)
Friday 13th 12:55pm
Friday the 13th Part III (1982) - 2:30pm Friday the 13th:
The Final Chapter (1984)
Friday 13th 4:00pm
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) - 6:00pm Friday the 13th
Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Friday 13th 7:30pm
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988) - 9:15pm Friday the 13th
Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Friday 13th 11:00pm Jason Goes to Hell:
The Final Friday (1993) - Saturday 14th 12:30am Jason X (2001)
Saturday 14th Saturday 14th 2:00am Freddy vs. Jason (2003) - 3:50am Friday the 13th (2009)
I stopped briefly during part 2 to be
interviewed about the event by Brandon Williams for the Jason
Mohammad late morning show on BBC Radio Wales I’ve uploaded the
clip of it to my Youtube page should you be interested in hearing
such things... If reading it is more your “bag” here's the
interview transcribed for your convenience.
Introduction to the link by Jason
Mohammad and Eggsy rather confused and distracted as they were
dressing up in different items of fancy dress each hour of the show.)
Eggsy:“I love horror movies,
absolutely,love them.”
Jason Mohammad:“ Halloween?”
Eggsy: “Great film!”
Jason: ”Seen them all?”
Eggsy:” Errrr... Yeah, Halloween 3 is
one of my favourites.”
Jason:”It's a great film, the reason
I ask Eggsy because it doesn't matter how much you raise every penny
counts and one horror movie fan in the Llŷn Peninsula is as we speak
in the middle of a fund raising movie marathon to give you a clue
what its all about its a scary bloke called Jason... Lets go over
live to our reporter Brandon, good morning Brandon.”
Brandon Williams:” Good morning
Jason, as if one scary bloke called Jason wasn't enough to cope
with, the man I am with now has to deal with twelve of them back
to back! I'm with Arfon Jones at his home in Nefyn and he's just
over two and a half hours into his movie marathon and the films
he's watching, Well if the evil Jason character wasn't enough just
think of today's date, Friday the 13th. Arfon is watching all
twelve episodes of the Friday the 13th movie franchise back to
back you might be able to hear it in the background. He started at
nine this morning and is just in the middle of part two. Not
everyone's cup of tea Arfon. Certainly not mine so how did you
come up with this idea?”
Arfon Jones:” It's an idea I have
had for some time and then when I found out that Children in Need
was on a Friday the 13th I thought this would be my excuse to do
it. So that's where I got the idea.”
Brandon:” Its coming up to midday
now, when will you finish this marathon?”
Arfon: ”I've worked it out at
around three o'clock in the morning... there abouts.”
Brandon: ”I trust you have enough
popcorn?
Arfon:”Absolutely!”
Brandon: ”Now you are a horror fan
but you haven't seen all of these. Based on what you've seen so
far is this going to be torture? Or are you actually enjoying it?”
Arfon: ”I'm sure I will start to
feel the strain at around eleven o'clock tonight but so far so
good.”
Brandon: "And your wife and
daughter they are out all day to leave you alone to your marathon,
do they think you are mad?”
Arfon: ”They have always thought
I'm mad, I suppose this is just another example of the madness
they have to endure.”
Brandon: ”Your daughter is only
just thirteen so you will have to keep her out of the way of this
one?
Arfon: ” She's had strict
instructions to keep out of the room for the rest of the day!”
Brandon: ”And the burning question
here is how much you have actually raised so far?
Arfon: ”Just under £250 at the
moment but hopefully we will get a lot more at the end of the day!
Brandon: ”You might actually go for
the 24 hour mark as well, you have a documentary to watch at the
end.”
Arfon: ” Assuming I am still awake
at that point I might just push the envelope and try and make 24
hours with it.
Brandon: ” Well, nearly £250 that
is brilliant Arfon, really fantastic- well done. You've got a lot
a long way to go, so I will let you get back to the film and we
will hand back to the other slightly less sinister Jason in the
studio.”
Jason Mohammad: ” Should just say
as well, You know quite a lot about horror movies as well, there
is a big difference between Friday the 13th and Halloween!”
Eggsy: ” Yes that was our producer's
fault!”
Jason: “Never blame it on the
producer!”
Eggsy: “Yeah, Halloween, completely
different to Friday the 13th a massive Friday the 13th marathon going
on there. There is a point when those films to tell him... HE'S GOING
TO GO ON UNTIL THREE OCLOCK IN THE MORING!”
Jason: ”yeah!”
Eggsy: “That's unbelievable! I don't
think I could do it- I mean I like a good horror film but with the
Friday the 13th movies I think at one point he fights Freddy Kruger,
I think that by the time Freddy Kruger comes in...”
Jason: ”Does he make an appearance?
Eggsy: “yeah, I think its 'Freddy vs,
Jason' and its just like, come on! That's just... then there's one
when Jason is in space! I think there is one set in Bradford or
something? They were just running out of ideas quite badly at this
point!”
A technical fault has arisen (not by my
hand I might add- it's all Blogger's fault!) and as a result two
posts seem to have dropped out of existence 'Happy Birthday Roland
Rat!' posted back on the 12th of March 2014 and 'Arfon’sSponsored Friday the 13th Movie Marathon: CONCLUSION' posted on the
15th of November 2015 thankfully I have been able to
retrieve them, but not in their original order- so I have to report
them here! Playing merry hell with my links, stats and OCD.... anyway, here
they are again!
Many happy returns Roland Rat
(superstar) celebrating his 31st birthday today! As Ratfans around
the world rejoice I thought I would devote this post to him! We all
know the story of how “the only rat to join a sinking ship"
managed to save TV-am’s ratings in 1983 and how he became an over
(morning) sensation and an instant hit with children (myself
included). We tuned in in our millions to follow his latest
adventures touring the globe in his pink Ford Anglia with Kevin the
Gerbil by his side while Errol the Hamster was left in charge of
playing cartoons such as the Pac-Man the Animated Series back at the
studio. I was a huge fan and drew several pictures of the gang
aspiring to win my very own Ratbag some day! I never did. But I
had/have all manner of other rat related items, Roland Rat
wristwatch, mug, badge, school bag, lunch box, pencils, rubbers,
annual and my very own plush Roland Rat! Received on Christmas 1984
he has been with me ever since, sitting on a shelf in my studio.
Taken on Christmas morning 1984. Left to right me, my grandmother and brother showing off our brand new Roland Rats!
This year I decided to restore and customise Roland in honour of his birthday. After a little T.L.C and a minor repairs (thank you Mrs. Jones) I turned to another plush rat. Back in 2011 Posh Paws produced some rather nice, high quality plush Roland Rats and their talking Roland line was of specific interest to me, however it was the sound module inside that I was after! After 30 years my plush Roland Rat would finally have a voice! The original plush Roland had a section in the back that allowed children to convert their Roland into a puppet (can’t think why) this pocket was the ideal location for storing the sound module (Velcro added for easy changing of batteries). I carefully removed the module from the donor and inserted it into the recipient and I am happy to report that the operation was a complete success! One talking, plush Roland Rat with 30 years worth of memories attached to it. Check out the video to see/hear the end result. Happy Birthday Roland!
It's all go here in the studio at the
moment not only am I adding the finishing touches to some projects
but I am also renovating the studio, that's right the studio is
regenerating! (but more on that and the big reveal at a later date).
Never the less I had a guest visit this week, fellow former Botwnnogschool pupil and BBC Radio Cymru (Radio Wales) presenter Aled Hughes.
Radio Cymru is the BBC's Welsh-language radio
station that brodacasts throughout Wales and Aled's show
offers a mix of music and conversation and it was nice having him
drop in for a cuppa and a chat (I've been on his show in the past
discussing Doctor Who). I gave him a mini tour of the studio, showed
off my projects (even the top secret ones!) and showed off parts of
my collection not currently in storage and discussed classic Nintendo
games, Daleks, Tiki and all manner of things nostalgic. He reported
his finding to his listeners and the interview can be found on iplayer. I thought however, that seeing as the interview had been
conducted in my native tongue I thought I would translate it for all
of you that don't speak welsh (not to mention those of you that want
to be spared listening to my nervous, nasally voice) either way this
is how it went.
Introduction: “We now go to Nefyn
(North Wales) to meet Arfon Jones. He loves collecting all sorts of
things, and is a collector of things that appeal to Arfon Jones, his
collection is amazing! When he opened the door to me it was like
going back to my childhood.”
Aled: “Right I am at a house in
Nefyn.”
(knocks door)
Arfon “hello?” Aled: “Arfon, how are you?” Arfon: “fine thank you, how are you?” Aled: “Fine thank you. Arfon Jones
lives here and right away I can say that this is a house with a
difference because I have just walked into, what can only be compared
to a set in Hawaii. Arfon: “That's it, this is my Tiki
Bar!” Aled: “The Tiki Bar. There are small
mugs featuring likeliness/faces that would belong to the islands of
Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. Why collect these Arfon?” Arfon:
“I've always had an interest in them and so I collect them. They
built up and I needed somewhere to store them and show them off.” Aled: “I'm not sure how to describe
you” Arfon: “Careful now!” Aled: “A collector of anything that
interests Arfon Jones?” Arfon: “Yeah, that's it! And there is
no limit” Aled: “So there is no limit, and
these Tiki mugs, I'm taking a closer look and they are worth seeing.
I'm a little concerned about touching them because I don't want to
break them! But you say one of these is from the 1950's?” Arfon:”Yes this one is from the Bali
Hai Restaurant in
California. I have some from New York... they come from all over. But
most of them from Hawaii.” Aled: “And you
have created this bamboo bar that contains them, and as I said its
worth seeing, its like being on the set of an Elvis movie in the
1950's, or some tropical beach and that's what you were trying to
recreate?” Arfon: “Yes, I
love all things Tiki and also Elvis Presley so I merged them together
here.” (8-bit game music
starts in the other room) Aled: ”Right, now
you are taking me into another room, and right away.... Arfon, this
takes me back to my childhood. This is the first Nintendo console?” Arfon:
“This is a Nintendo Classic Mini”. Aled: “If we just turn it down for a
moment. Now, this goes back to the late 1980's but you have only just
got it?” Arfon: “ Yes, the Nintendo Classic
Mini lets me play all the old vintage games.” Aled:
“I will get you to do my job for a moment and get you to hold the
microphone. Donkey Kong! This was a favourite. Right, I have to be
honest, I haven't played this for years... (Donkey Kong music
starts) what's the appeal Arfon? Why have something from your
childhood? With all these new games out now, that allow you to do
anything within them why go back to something that's already been?” Arfon: “Its the
memories that it brings back for me, the games I played I also like
the simplicity. It has a charm about it and that's what I like.” Aled: “But these
aren't the only things you collect?” Arfon: “This is
just a small sample of what I have... I'll show you the rest now.” Aled: “Blimey,
I'll follow you.” Aled: “Here we
are, the Tardis doors. (laughs) We start off with a door which looks
like the doors of the Tardis, carefully painted. You made this?” Arfon: “Yes, I made that.” Aled: “ Blimey, Here we are inside a
cave full of treasures, I will attempt to described what I am seeing,
we have glass cabinet full of items relating to Monster Munch, there
are several Daleks... I don't know where to begin. Arfon. Where do
you think we should start.” Arfon: “ Well, I can start here with
the Cyberman?” Aled: “Cyberman from the Doctor Who
TV series is this a special one?
Arfon: “This one comes from the
1980's and was the version that terrified me as a child.” Aled: “Is it an original?” Arfon: “It's from a mould taken from
one used in the show I've then added the details to make it look like
an original and also rigged up the lights inside.” Aled: “Then inside the glass cabinet
underneath, Monster Munch crisps once a firm fixture in lunch boxes
throughout the 1980's and 90's there are all sorts of things here,
key-rings, teddies... I didn't know all this existed.” Arfon: “Same here, I'm still
discovering new things that I didn't know that had been produced. I
have books relating to the fan club, items produced for bikes and all
the (electronic) games I even have a story tape of Monster Munch
stories for children to listen to on long car trips.” Aled: “Did you know that these things
existed or did you have to research it first?” Arfon: “There has been a little
homework involved, but I do remember most of them as a child and how
one had to collect the tokens from packs to get them.” Aled: “Right, beside this (case) is
something I do remember... (taps the side) the 'Cheeky Chics' machine
that would stand outside a shop, you explain it.” Arfon: “This machine was actually
outside the Nefyn beach shop/cafe for many years. Kids would put
their 10p in, the chicken would cluck and drop and egg that contained
a gift inside.” Aled: “And once again I find the
memories flooding back to me. Do you know anything about its history? Arfon: “The only thing I know is that
Sam Moffatt produced these machines and that they originated from
Rhyl. But apart from that I know very little about them. A shame
because I would love to know more about him.” Aled: “Well, if anyone out there
knows anything about this inventor from Rhyl called Sam Moffatt that
made arcade machines get in touch.”
Part 2
Aled: “Now then, this looks like a
dangerous chair!”
Arfon: “Yes, this is my electric
chair... This is my reading chair.” Aled: (laughs) “you read in an
electric chair?!” Arfon: “Yes. And this is the chair I
will have when I'm old and retired.” Aled: “So you found this old chair in
a shop, you've put leather straps on it to make it look like an old
electric chair that would have been used in the 1950's that we would
have seen in many horror films, my next question is why?” Arfon: “I remember how Grandpa
Munster from the Munsters TV series had one and I've always wanted
one. So I got this chair, detailed it, popped in a bulb and instead
of an electric shock I have a light to read from...” Aled: “I shan't sit in it, just in
case I don't get up again! You have shelves, and I noted as I walked
in that it was like walking into an old video shop from back in the
day, VHS's something that people might not remember now, certainly
not young people but they would once have had videos on display and
that's what you have recreated here.” Arfon: “There you go, again I havememories of being able to go into shop and pick a film to watch and
so that's what we do now. Friday night we come through, pick a movie
and away you go.” Aled: ”There are Daleks galore on
this top shelf, there has to be between fifteen- twenty Daleks here
each one stands about a foot tall and they cover the entire span of
Doctor Who?” Arfon” Yes, these are actually fairly
new, but each design is different -reflecting how they have changed
over the years. Some people collect models of Minis, showing off the
different versions and colour schemes over the years- well I do that
with Daleks.” Aled: “The thing about this place is
that I don't know where to turn next, its a room filled with all
sorts of different things. I can see Morph here, you have badges on
the wall I can see a badge from Hafoc (Welsh kids series from the
80's) I see all sorts of badges, I see a Slush Puppie one with the
dog on it that I remember from my childhood. Arfon: “This is my studio, its where
I work from and most of my work has an element of nostalgia about it.
I'm an artist/ illustrator I draw comics and books and also some
sculptures, my own figures too.” Aled: “So your inspiration is always
around you. We will now move along into this part of the room, there
is a rather eye catching coat here Arfon, what's the story here?” Arfon: “This was Screaming LordSutch's original coat, Screaming Lord Sutch was the founder of the
Monster Raving Loony Party, this is from 1983.” Aled: “Where on Earth did you get
that?” Arfon: “Someone in America had it,
and now thanks to eBay I now have it...” Aled: “Are you serious?” Arfon: “yes.” Aled: “Speaking of eBay, there is a
box here, in my hand... can I open it? And inside is a wrestling suit
of a hero of any child growing up in the 1980's and early 90's one of
Big Daddy's wrestling suits (leotards)” Arfon: “there you go, the man
himself.” Aled: “Were did you get hold of this
Arfon?” Arfon: “eBay! (laugh). I remember
meeting him in Caernarfon, seeing a photo of him brought it all back
to me and when I saw that... I have one of his capes as well. I'm
hoping to do more with it, show it off to people such as you and me
that (fondly) remember him.” Aled: “The white suit with big black
letters spelling 'Big Daddy'” Arfon: “His wife would do that, sew
them on and added the sequins.” Aled: “Isn't it amazing to think that
someone's hero during their childhood was in this! This is a
collection that goes in all different directions Arfon, from Daleks
to Big Daddy to arcade machines what is the end goal? What do you
hope to do with all this stuff?” Arfon: “ Id like to put together a
small museum, I intend to do so with my own work- but my work
reflects all this so I use them for that. I'm always learning
something new and I like sharing my findings with people. Sometimes
one finds something that the world seems to have completely forgotten
about an I rediscover it.” Aled: “What you do , seems to almost
be disappearing now, because everything is on the internet, people
take photos with their phones, they upload it and its gone.” Arfon: “I look at myself as a
curator, most people would probably prefer to forget these things
but I prefer to keep them and learn from them- and show them off.” Aled:” Your rekindled many a
childhood memory for me and I thank you for doing so and sharing some
of this with me, it was well worth seeing. Thanks for the chat.” Arfon:”You are welcome, thank you.”
My sincere thanks to Aled Hughes and
Cadï Mai
Be sure to tune in and catch Aled's show on BBC Radio Cymru
Following on from the successful
Kickstarter campaign the fourth and final issue of Slaughterhouse
Farm is out now! Just like the previous three issues this was
written by AJ Ballard and Matt Warner, lettered by Nikki Foxrobot and
illustrated by yours truly. After four years this grizzly tale of a
trip to Snowdonia going horribly awry comes to a conclusion and as I
mentioned before the campaign achieved its target goal after only a
week proving how much of a hit this title has been with readers of
the independent comic scene. So, don't delay order your copy today
through their website or pick up an issue at one of Hellbound Media’s
stalls positioned at numerous comic conventions across the country.
Already read it? Let them know what you thought either on their
Facebook page or Twitter or post a comment and I'll pass it on as
I would love to know what you made of it.
This medal dates from the mid 1960's and
features Tufty Fluffytail the road safety RoSPA (Royal Society for
the Prevention of Accidents) squirrel created by Mrs Elsie Mills MBE
in 1953. Tufty featured in a series of stories aimed at delivering
clear and simple messages about safety to the children of Britain and
in 1961, the Tufty Club was founded, forming a nationwide network of
local groups aimed at encouraging children to take care when crossing
the road and at its peak there were 24,500 registered clubs across
the country. By its second year around60,000 children had joined the club and by the 1970s it was estimated the Tufty Club had reached 2 million members. It was also around this time that the RoSPA released a series of animated PSA's narrated by Bernard Cribbins that not only raised further awareness but also assured Tufty a place in the Britain's conciseness.
The I-SPY
spotters' guides were a series of books
first created in 1949 and written for the children of the British
Isles during 1950s and 1960s by an apparent Red Indian chief called
Big Chief I-Spy. But Big Chief I-Spy was in fact one Mr. Charles
Warrell (1889 -1995) a former head master who
devised these books as a way of keeping
children entertained and stimulated on long car journeys. It was a simple
enough premise, children would spot the
objects listed in the themed books, record the event (gaining points)
and then once the book was completed, they would send the book to Big
Chief I-SPY (witnessed by a parent or teacher) for
a feather and entry to the order of merit. The children participating
in the game were known as The I-SPY Tribe. The books were so well
recieved that by 1953 the I-SPY Tribe had half a million members and
a column in the Daily Mail where completed entries were mentioned by
name. When Warrell retired in 1956, Arnold Cawthrow became the second
Big Chief, and served in this role until 1978 when Big Chief, Robin
Tucek stepped in for a short time before Professor David Bellamy
carried the torch as Big Chief throught the 1980's (where I came in)
until Michelin Travel Publications acquired and published the series
itself from 1991 through 2002 before relaunching the series again in
2009. This particular medal dates from around 1961, and would
have been acquired by a 'redskin' that would have decoded a special
message in The Daily Mail with the aid of their membership code
book.
