It's official - I'm a Trendy Woman - Autumn 2005
Papplewick Arts has taken a back seat for the past couple of months, as I've been busy building a new website. Originally Clare's brainchild TRENDYWOMAN.CO.UK has become a really good e-Commerce project to get my teeth into. Now I know all about girlie jewellery and I also have a new woman in my life called 'Rita' (our mannekin). Gilbert keeps asking when she's "going back" where she came from. He thinks she's going to come alive like the Autons in Dr Who.

With the party season fast approaching, you know what to do - Check out the TRENDYWOMAN.CO.UK website for our extensive range of fashion jewellery and accessories.

'Springtime daanloads' - April 2005
You can now download high quality MP3 songs by the Smart Cookies from DOWNLOAD.COM. Check out the site for hundreds of exciting new bands.

Riff and I have been listening to a fair bit of Motown recently, attracted by the crude, cavernous drums. Whether this will influence our next recording remains to be seen? We also 'luv the saand' of 'Maximo Park' a band whose driving guitars and broad Newcastle dialect harks back to the glory days of Nottingham pub rock heroes GAFFA. It's always refreshing to hear musicians who do not feel the need to resort to fake American accents.

Paul Fillingham

Pure Paolozzi - April 2005
He was my art school hero. He legitimised the use of popular icons in high-art. Paolozzi, the son of an Italian ice-cream seller who went on to produce a huge body of creative work, from limited edition prints, to assemblage, mosaics and public sculpture.

Eduardo Paolozzi was one of the founding fathers of British Pop art. His collection of 50's Americana (comics, toys, magazine ads, photographs and objects) was highly influential, though today he is mainly revered for his sculptures and public art. The walls of London Underground's deepest station (Tottenham Court Road) are adorned with one of Paolozzi's pop-inspired mosaics.

I bumped into him at the Tate Gallery on London's Millbank exactly ten years ago. Paolozzi, unmistakable with his huge gait and vice-like hands was making his way into the 'Friends' room in the basement of the gallery. It was one of those special moments, akin to meeting a pop-star. The fact that he was old enough to be my grandfather and had the features of a pig was irrelevant. Here in the flesh was an influential hero who made a massive impact on the way that I perceive the world. I sit here typing these words and look at the toy robot on my desk. It is pure Paolozzi.

More> BBC News Feature on Eduardo Paolozzi
More> Dreamtargets Blog

Rubber Monkeys - March 2005
The Rescue Rooms, Masonic Place, Nottingham was the venue for two great gigs this month, when me and Riff saw John Cooper Clarke and The Fall and later Robin Trower. JCC was funny, though I think the humour was lost on younger members of the audience. Fall lyricist, Mark E Smith was characteristically vitriolic. It was good to see him with such a tight band. The slurred vocals and rubber-faced expressions were first class entertainment!

To see Robin Trower, a guitar hero from our youth, up there on stage in such a small venue was a great treat. Riff said he'd seen him in town earlier that afternoon filling a carrier bag with batteries for his guitar effects pedals. Trower has just turned 60 years old, but on stage, exhibited youthful glee as he blasted our eardrums with his bluesey 15 minute guitar solos. Another classic rubber-face. Next month we'll be up for gurning competitions in Lancashire.

Speaking of Lancashire...Clare and I took Gilbert and Daisy up to Morecambe for a weekend but were shocked to see our childhood haunt reduced to a ghost-town. Mind you, there is one glimmer of hope, the derelict Grand Hotel on the seafront is being restored to its former glory. But the town was so ramshackle that in the end we went down the coast to Blackpool, a resort that will never possess Morecambe's subtle charm.

This month I've been busy adapting the 'Nottingham in the 1980's book so that it's fully browsable as a website. There are still limited copies of the book available for those who love the detail, feel and smell of pages. But in producing 'Nottingham in the 1980s' as a website, it does give us scope to expand it further with all the new material we have uncovered since publication three years ago.

Also...this month, Doctor Who is back. What can I say?...Wonderful! I only wish I still had my Dalek costume.

View> Robin Trower Review
View> Nottingham in the 1980's

Big Freeze - February 2005
Winter struck with a vengeance this month, though I have experienced worse winters than this! Then again, at 44 years old, odds are I should have experienced one or two! Reaching such an age has been interesting. Even Riff said to Clare recently 'He's quite old really' in the manner that people often talk-over old folk.

One of my nostalgic birthday presents was a book entitled Digital Retro which documents the development of 'Home Computers' at the start of the 80s and should appeal to anyone who has fond memories of these pioneering if not exasperating times.

Whilst on the subject of antique computers, it occured to me last week that it is exactly ten years since I first hooked up my old Mac II with a 14kb modem and ventured into cyberspace!

View> Amazon review - Digital Retro

Nightmare - January 2005
Yes, I had a nightmare about a tidal wave on the 18th December, the week before the Tsunami hit Indonesia on Boxing Day. That's one hell of a coincidence that I still find perplexing. But at the end of the day, it was only a dream and I woke up unscathed. We are so lucky to live in our western playground. Some children are not so fortunate and need our help right now - Please give generously.

Donate> Concern - Asia Disaster Relief
Donate> Oxfam - Asia Disaster Relief
View> Nightmare photoshop montage and description

Spaced Out Christmas - December 2004
Papplewick Arts did well last month with a backlog of commissions for pop-art style paintings, though I was offline for most of November when my BT Broadband connection died. This was followed by a colourful chest infection and all the usual pre-xmas web design work for Headland. Some friends have been too ill to party this Christmas, so whether you are spaced-out with alcohol, loving thoughts or Night-nurse. I wish you all the best for the festive season and hope to catch up with you in the New Year.

More> Xmas eCard 2004

Accident and Tragedy - October 2004
October saw the death of 'Superman' actor Christopher Reeve and the much loved Radio DJ John Peel. Reeve had been paralysed from the neck down for many years following a riding accident. John Peel died from heart failure whilst on holiday in Peru, his unexpected death leaves a gaping hole in the UK music scene.
In the same month, ex-Leeds fine art student and Soft Cell vocalist Marc Almond was seriously injured in a motorbike accident and had to be airlifted to hospital. At one point he was said to be in a very critical condition.

More> Dreamtargets Blog

Papplewick goes POP! - October 2004
October has been an artistic month. With dark nights drawing-in, I took the opportunity to revisit two of my favourite 1960s art films; Lindsay Anderson's 'IF...' and Ken Russell's 'Pop Goes the Easel'. Then with candles burning at both end, I finally got around to launching Papplewick Arts, a new website dedicated to selling my paintings and collectables.

More> Papplewick Arts Website - Buy Artwork online.

Smart Cookies take two - October 2004
Riff and I have recorded a new version of 'Finance of Romance' which is said to sound like 'Aztec camera meets David Bowie'. In other words; driving acoustic guitar and some big vocals. Feed your iPod here!

Download> Finance of Romance (2.8Mb)
Download> Sky Monkey Music (2Mb)

New school, no school, young man - September 2004
September was an eventful month, with new schools for Daisy and Gilbert but no school for Hannah following a serious fire at Arnold Hill. Headland Multimedia had a good day out at Pontefract Racecourse and the month also saw the death of Nottingham/Derby football legend Brian Clough.

More> Dreamtargets Blog

Holiday books - August 2004
Exchanging wind and rain for 90 degree heat, I found myself lounging beside a pool with a stack of novels, a notebook and a cool drink. The break in Lanzarote provided an opportunity to write more of the 80s novel 'Dancing Life'. It also gave me the chance to read '32 Red' a novel by my old school friend David Green. His series of crime mystery thrillers are centered around an enigmatic and sometimes dangerous character called Oscar Phelps. David who has lived in Spain and the US is currently in Australia working on a new Phelps novel entitled 'Berlin by Christmas'.

More> Buy '32 Red: An Oscar Phelps Novel'

Reality TV concept - August 2004
Because I don't get much time to watch TV, I sometimes feel a bit of an outsider when the nation gets hysterical over reality TV shows. There's been a lot of press recently about Big Brother being a tired format and not doing the ratings like it should. So, I've come up with an idea for a new programme called 'Big Biddy' - A reality TV show that has the potential of becoming the Channel 4 success of 2005.

More> Big Biddy Website