The North Woolwich aircraft carrier.

I have just got back from the cinema, where Ian and I went to see The Boat that Rocked. I have read many reviews, ranging from the dismissive to those that heaped praise on the thing. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie; it has both technical accuracy issues and plot holes wide enough to sail a ship through, but these really do not matter. The casting, acting and photography are all spot on; I am glad to say that it is somewhat darker than the usual Richard Curtis fare, though it still is a real "feel good" movie. I know my own offshore broadcasting experiences were from the late eighties, rather than their 1960's heyday, but as someone who has been there and done it, I can strongly recommend the film.

On another radio - related note, local station Time FM (formerly Radio Thamesmead) has gone bust and has now left the airwaves. You can read all about it here.

Something very unusual happened on Wednesday afternoon. I was leaving my Dad's nursing home, which is located on directly the opposite side of the River Thames to the London City Airport. I was walking up the nursing home path when the ground started trembling and a deafening rumble filled the air. Car alarms went off and added to the cacophony as I looked over the river and upwards I witnessed a USAF Boeing 747 Electronic Countermeasures aircraft lifting off from the tiny City airport. How on earth the behemoth managed to land and subsequently take off from the miniscule runway beggars belief. My wild guess is that the 747 was part of the small fleet of decoy aircraft that escorted Air Force One on its' way to the UK this week. By the way, if you did not see my posting of a few months ago, I have President Obama as one of my Flickr friends. I just wish that I had my camera with me to capture the sight of the surprisingly agile aircraft ascending heavenwards.

Soap box time. Disposable razor blades. Are they machined out of platinum and lubricated with pure cocaine? No? Then how come they are so amazingly expensive? Seven quid for four small pieces of metal and plastic seems unreasonable at best; I would not mind so much, but the Gillette Fusion blades I use seem to wear out after only two uses - any further attempt to shave ends up with scrapes and skin irritation. I have tried other brands with no better result. The manufacturers have got us blokes by the short and curlies and there is little we can do about it. I just wish someone would come out with an Immac equivalent for men.

Erith River Festival has been cancelled this year; I don't know why - there was little further information on the signs blu tacked to the revolving doors in Morrison's where I saw it announced. I am deeply disappointed, as last years' festival was excellent. Click here to see my photos of the event.

I had a very annoying incident on public transport this week (what - again? I hear you say). Just this once it had nothing to do with buses; this time it was Southeastern Trains. I had got onto the service at Plumstead on Thursday late afternoon, and it proceeded on its' way to Erith. Upon arrival at Erith Railway Station, it sat there for a while, whilst muggins repeatedly pressed the button to open the doors. Nothing happened, and the train duly drew out of the station and headed on to Slade Green. When I eventually managed to get off the train, the driver's cab was surrounded by what could only be described as a lynch mob of angry commuters who had been unable to leave the train at Erith. Fortunately I was able to walk through the foot tunnel and pick up a train back to Erith within a few minutes. The numpty behind the wheel (or whatever train drivers use to control the train with) deserved a jolly good kicking for inattention - in another situation it could have led to injury or worse.

The video clip this week continues the watery wireless theme; it is a recent local TV news report featuring Radio Caroline and the Ross Revenge, and includes an interview with my former boss, Caroline station manager Peter Moore. It just goes to show how a Hollywood movie can galvanise interest in a subject.

The Boat that Rocked.

Above you can see both sides of a flyer published by the nefarious gang running GC's Nightclub on the Europa Industrial Estate in Fraser Road, Erith. Captain Tweed's intelligence agent has been hard at work. We now have conclusive proof that the club organisers are intending to blatantly break the Council's rule that the venue can only be used for occasional one off events, not regular activity; the rule states they can open 15 times in 12 months, yet if you read the details on the GC Nightlub Facebook page you will see that they intend to have regular openings on Friday and Saturday nights, hold custom car shows, have foam parties, under 18 nights, Bunny nights (whatever they are) and host live bands. All in a derelict warehouse with no amenities or planning permission on the middle of a hideous and run down industrial estate. They plan on bussing punters in from Gravesend, Dartford and London - not that there is any parking, of course. Still, the evidence is all there on Facebook - the Chav tribal networking site. You can also read further coverage and feedback from local residents on the News Shopper page here.

Well, it seems like off air recordings of me on Radio Caroline are a bit like buses. You wait ages then two turn up. The new one was made available by Steve Martin, formerly of RFM and Caroline. It is much better quality than last weeks' meagre offering. If I can find somewhere to host the 55Mb MP3 file, I will let you hear the results - I was still sounding very young and squeaky. The recording is me hosting an overnight album show, and the first record gets stuck in the groove. All good fun.

It seems like the derelict Erith Swimming Baths are attracting the attention of local low lives who have been firing rockets at the building from parked cars. They are no doubt visualising themselves as a kind of Happy Shopper Al Qaeda. I could not make it up - read more here.

I am not completely au fait with Twitter, but Stephen Fry has one that you can read here.

I was saddened to hear that seminal East London rock music venue the Ruskin Arms closed for good last night. The place was famously the cradle of Iron Maiden, and Colin Ward used to hold Radio Caroline rock road shows there on a regular basis. The pub is being redeveloped as apartments, a surgery and shops. A real loss.

I was climbing the escalator at Euston underground station on Wednesday morning, and I noticed that the familiar roughly A4 sized adverts on the walls of the tunnel has been replaced with mini flat screens displaying videos and commercials. What was especially galling was that they all seemed to be showing the amazingly irritating "I'm a PC" commercial by Microsoft. My irritation turned to mirth when I noticed that roughly half the screens were showing the familiar Windows Blue Screen of Death. I wish I had a camera with me at the time.

Since it changed in use from the Millennium Dome and became to O2 Arena, the venue has become extremely successful. People come from all around London and beyond to visit the place; the exception seems to be residents in South East London. To be honest, I thought until recently, the Arena was on the North side of the Thames - I did not realise that it was only a bus ride from Charlton railway station. This might explain the slight geographic demographic skew of the place. People in the local area just don't know how close the place actually is to them.

And now onto the main feature. The team behind Four Weddings and a Funeral have made a comic drama set on board a fictional offshore radio ship, during the summer of 1966. The film is called "The Boat that Rocked" and stars pretty much all of the usual suspects that Director Richard Curtis normally chooses. I retain an open mind about the whole affair. I will probably go and see it, only to sit in the cinema, picking holes in the accuracy, like the sad old anorak I am!

Below is a trailer for the movie; the ship very much looks the part (though too clean and shiny - there's no rust - unheard of!) The crew look too old; most in reality were early to mid twenties throughout the offshore radio era. Let me not get too caught up over technicalities such as there being no antenna wire strung between the antenna towers, the film is intended for a general audience, and as such I think it may well be a big success. We shall have to wait and see.