Stuart Ashen’s Poundland Peril

I am not a huge fan of Youtube videos that feature people 'reviewing' things. I find that most videos feature someone wittering on about something in their collection (I detest any video that start with “Hey everyone, wassup?”) However, these videos make the talented few shine all the brighter, case in point the videos of comedian and technology reviewer Dr.Stuart Ashen. Ashen delivers videos that are both interesting and funny were he reviews electronic knockoffs, bad games and items bought from Poundland and they are very good!
I have been subscribing to his channel for a few years now and back in October Ashens set the Not-100-Videos competition. Inviting viewers to submit artwork that incorporated what his videos were about and what they meant to us. Once correlated the pieces would feature in a future video where a winner would be announced. So I thought I would have a go, assuming that you are interested in how I work, I shall talk you through the creative process...


After some thought I decided to create a cover for a fake Spectrum game called ‘Stuart Ashen’s Poundland Peril’ depicting Ashen weaving his way through a Poundland shop dodging enemies and elements from his videos. Once I had finished the drawing I photocopied it to thin a3 card.


Using acrylic paint I apply the background colours and re-apply outlines and detail that was lost.


4 hours later with the main colours applied I add shadows, define outlines and add further detail and colour as I go.


7 hours later the painting was complete ready to be photocopied.


To maintain a Tony Hart, ’Hart Beat’ feel I stuck the print to pastel blue card,wrote my name and age on the back and posted my entry.


As promised Ashen produced a video announcing the winners of the competition. So impressed with the standard of the entries received he decided to feature each one in a series of 3 videos.
At the end of 2 of 3 I was delighted to discover that ‘Stuart Ashen’s Pondland Peril’ had won the fine art category! As you can see from the video standards were very high.



And here we have my prizes! The fake PSP that plays old Nintendo games, Ashenthology 1 dvd “And Bully's Special Prize!” a Lego Samurai figure! My thanks to everyone who left comments on the page and of course to Stuart Ashen for arranging the competition and selecting my painting!
“Potato!”



© Arfon Jones 2010. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Comic Consciousness: Marvel Comics Sold Here!

I was just going through my photos when I discovered this one taken in 2009, I’m rather fond of this sign, it hangs outside Nostalgia & Comics in Birmingham and assures us all that they sell Marvel comics (which is always good to know!)

I have been a fairly frequent customer of Nostalgia & Comics since the mid 1990’s and it really is one of the finest comic shops in the land (and they tell me that they were also one of the first comic shops to open in the British Isles) so well worth a visit if you are ever in Birmingham. 

© Arfon Jones 2011. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Science Spotlight: Conclusion

Back in January I set myself a project entitled ‘Science Spotlight’ each month I depicted someone of scientific interest to me, from boffins to inventors some had achieved great success others less so. Presented in a simplistic style, reminiscent of traditional children’s education books and comics they also provided a brief biography, which I hoped would encourage readers to research further and learn more about their work and interesting lives. I have received positive feedback from the many visitors to this blog (in some cases from the subjects themselves!) and thank everyone dearly for taking the time to do so. As the project draws to a close I thought I would include all 12 on this thread for easy access. All comments are welcomed, please feel free to share your thoughts Happy New Year!

1/12 Professor Heinz Wolff

2/12 Sir Patrick Moore

3/12 Wilf Lunn

4/12 Dr. Magnus Pyke

5/12 Maurice Grosse

6/12 Harry Matthews 

7/12 Sir Richard Owen 

8/12 George Bennie 

9/12 Sir Bernard Lovell

10/12 Harry Price 

11/12 Sir Clive Sinclair 

12/12 Lord William Penney

© Arfon Jones 2010. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

'Science Spotlight’ 12/12 Lord William George Penney

The Rt Hon. Lord William George Penney, OM, KBE, MA, PHD, DSC, HONFCGI, FIC, FRS
(1909-1991) A talent for mathematics gained Penney a scholarship to the Imperial College, London were He was awarded the Governor's Prize for Mathematics graduating with First Class Honours in 1929. After two years at the University of Wisconsin he returned to England and obtained a doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 1935, returning to the Imperial College in 1936 as Assistant Professor of Mathematics. Being A specialist in the physics of hydrodynamic waves, he was enlisted by the Home Office and the Admiralty during World War II to assist in the design of the mulberry harbours used during the Normandy landings. As part of the British delegation he then worked at Los Alamos on the Manhattan Project, observing the Trinity test detonation in 1945, the explosion on Nagasaki and assessing the damage after Japan’s surrender. He was appointed an OBE in 1946, When Britain required an atomic bomb to maintain its position in world politics, Penney was assigned the task. The first British nuclear device was successfully detonated off the West Coast of Australia in 1952 earning Penney a knighthood. In 1954 he served on the Board of the Atomic Energy Authority, becoming Chairman in 1964. He was appointed Lord Penney of East Hendred in 1967 and served as Rector of the Imperial College until 1973. The College built and named the William Penney Laboratory after him.

© Arfon Jones 2010. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Martian Christmas

December is here and so I have made a start on watching my favourite Christmas movies in the run up to the 25th starting with the 1964 classic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Haven’t seen it? Your loss! At the risk of giving too much away the inhabitants of Mars grow concerned about their children’s future and decide to introduce fun into their lives by kidnapping Santa from Earth and introduce the concept of Christmas to Mars! And the plan must have worked because when I visited Mars back in December 2008 they had Christmas trees and decorations there… Ok you have me, I didn’t visit THAT Mars but Mars 2112 the themed restaurant and bar in the Times Square! Mars 2112 was brought to my attention when a Martian greeted me on the sidewalk, he made a zapping sound and presented me with a flyer that urged me to visit. Intrigued, I did just that but when my brother and I got there much like the red planet…it was uninhabited!
Ok, once again that wasn’t strictly true, there were a few people there, but they seemed to be attending a private function and there were no Martians on hand to show us to a table! First opened in 1998 Mars 2112 also had a "Space Arcade" and a "Mars Bar" but sadly no bartender! As we patiently waited for someone to show I had a look round, the place was impressive with a lovely attention to detail about it. I adore places like this (read about my visit to the Jekyll and Hyde pub here) but when it became obvious that nobody was going to take our order we decided to leave, a great shame as I had high expectations on going in. Here are the photographs taken during my exploration of Mars, you will note the Christmas décor previously mentioned, I was especially impressed with the Martian Christmas trees.

*Update* It seems that the restaurant closed in January 2012

© Arfon Jones 2010. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

'Science Spotlight’ 11/12 Sir Clive Marles Sinclair

Sir Clive Marles Sinclair, born in 1940, Inspired by his father and grandfather who were both engineers Sinclair began designing at an early age. At school he excelled in mathematics and in 1955 he took his O-levels and A-levels in physics, pure maths, and applied maths. Three weeks before his A-levels he drew up the Sinclair Micro radio kit and wrote his first article for Practical Wireless. He decided against going to university and left school before his 18th birthday to sell his miniature electronic kits by mail order. He formed Sinclair Radionics Ltd and in the 1960’s designed and marketed pocket transistor radios and micro-amplifier kits, making Sinclair a pioneer in the field of miniature consumer electronics. In 1972, he marketed the world's first pocket calculator, 1976 the first digital wristwatch and in 1977 the first pocket TV.
In 1979, he set out to build a simple, easy to use personal computer for under £100 and in 1980, The Sinclair ZX80 was launched selling over 100,000 starting the home computer revolution in the UK. He was made chairman of the British Mensa Society in 1980 a role he served for 17 years and in 1983 he received a knighthood. In 1985 he launched the Sinclair C5 an environmentally friendly, streamlined electric vehicle.
Sinclair Research Ltd. continues to market Sinclair's inventions the most recent being the A-Bike a folding bike for city commuters and his latest electric vehicle the Sinclair X-1.

© Arfon Jones 2010. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

The Jekyll and Hyde Pub, New York

I’ve frequented the Robin Hood in Nottingham and the Sherlock Holmes in London but had to go to New York to drink at the Jekyll and Hyde… The Jekyll and Hyde is a restaurant and social club for explorers and mad scientists located in Greenwich Village and the banner outside drew me in like a moth to the flame. Guests are warned that anything can happen here as they dine as the place offers an interesting mixture of live entertainment and ‘spooky’ special effects. My brother and I nipped in for a ‘quick’ drink last year on our way back from visiting the Ghostbusters headquarters. As it was pre-lunchtime it was fairly quiet and laid back in there and sitting by a bar that came to life every ten minutes or so while the television looped classic horror movie trailers was brilliant.

The only ‘scary’ moment (for me) was an awkward conversation with a man playing a butler that mingled with visitors, full credit to him and his performance but to be perfectly honest I’ve never been terribly good at ‘interacting’ with actors in character be they Henry Hound, Daleks or Butlers! But once that moment was over with my curiosity got the better of me and I had a wander round. The walls were filled with artefacts supposedly collected from around the globe that would also spring to life but as previously mentioned this was during the morning so there wasn’t much life in them at this time. BUT I did enjoy looking round though and took some photos as I went along.  Hope to go back there someday.

© Arfon Jones 2010. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.