I love the work of Carl Giles, simply known as “Giles”. He added topical visual fun to the Daily and Sunday Express from 1943 to ‘89-‘91. His annual collections were a regular Christmas present for my father. Though left leaning in politics he said he earned a good income from the right wing Express. As well as the contents of my weekly comic 2000ad, I also drew the scenes and characters in his strips.
What a voice and charismatic presence the indefatigable Ms Turner had. Stretching from the 50’s into the 21st Century her impact in the music industry was colossal. She was also a motorcycle rider. A favorite bike being an Electra Glide HD. Though here is a younger gal with a sixties BSA.
Tina Turner RIP (1939-2023)
Between 1985 and 1995 cartoonist Bill Watterson created the wonderful duo of a mischievous six year boy and his imaginary feline companion. The newspaper strip was awaited for each day – especially when he was looking forward to his beanie hat. Here is someone’s reiteration of the pair haring down a hillside upon a motorcycle.
A pair of Beemer adventure bikes were parked next to my car. always like the black and yellow color scheme that is reminiscent of the original air cooler R90 GS from the late eighties.
– an adept 400 twin from the Honda stable mid 80’s. This was spied in my ‘hood Rogers Park.
– I managed to snap a shot of a pair of bikers hauling up Ashland Avenue. Honda Helix superscooter and Suzuki GS1000.
– The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles we’re a phenom in the late 80’s. Named after renaissance artists, Michelangelo , Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo, they came from the sewers of New York City to fight crime. Surfer jargon was essential too.
Blurb from the back of the VHS box: “After a rare comet sighting, teen sisters Regina (Catherine Mary Stewart) and Samantha (Kelli Maroney) find that they’re among the only survivors of a zombie attack. The girls partner with another survivor, Hector (Robert Beltran), but as they try to avoid the zombies, they’re sought by scientists who want to experiment on their bodies in the hope of finding an antidote. Dodging both the doctors and the undead, they keep moving in the hope that they can continue to stay alive.” A Triumph motorcycle is the vehicle of choice for the protagonists.
– Stephen Fry celebrates his 64th birthday today. Along with Hugh Laurie, he was one half of the celebrated duo of mirth.
– afternoon TV was airing this 1988 revisit of a classic ‘58 Steve McQueen horror. Kevin Dillon is the high school teen protagonist who tears around the town on his vintage Triumph.
Medellin Cartel
– we’re currently watching Narcos, about drug lord Pablo Escobar, who, at the height of his infamy, was bringing in $70 million a day from cocaine smuggled to the US. the image is a still from rare footage of him on a Yamaha dirt bike as he rode around his Hacienda homestead.
– once upon a time the third page of the biggest selling tabloid in the UK was a daily topless exposure. Samantha Fox was one of the most prominent in the eighties. Until she started a singing career…
Speeder Bike – Moon of Endor
– the first time I saw this chase scene in the movie theater back in ‘83 I was blown away. You were flung through the forest at breakneck speed as if you were aboard with Luke & Leia.
– Grand Prix racing was an adventurous spectacle when I was younger, no small part due to the excitement imbued by the high pitched commentary of Murray Walker. His father was a noted TT motorcycle road racer, which Murray took up briefly, before going into TV work and advertising. His races that were a shared experience with the couth color of James Hunt are legendary.
geordiebiker.com 