As always, the opinions expressed in these pages are purely and personally those of myself, Brian; they are not the official views of Queen, or of any other organisation or individual.
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Cheers ! Bri
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Just to cheer everyone up for the weekend ... here's another one of Harold Lloyd's stereos of Marilyn Monroe - again, remounted so as to be free-viewable in 3-D on Instagram. Who could not love Marilyn ?
Harold Lloyd, stereo photographer, with a friend !
This is the book of Harold Lloyd's stereo pictures that I'm channelling. Edited by Suzanne Lloyd Hayes. Many thanks to my great pal Neal Preston for getting it for me. Light relief that we need in these grim times.
**Thu 14 Sep 17** APPLIES JUST AS MUCH TO BADGERS AS RHINOS Direct link
And of course this applies just as much to badgers as Rhinos. Our government does not understand this. We have the wrong kind of government. We are paying for them to kill our badgers. This country desperately needs a new kind of leadership.
This is an appeal to those of you who are in the National Trust, who are members, as I am.
We get to vote. This is the voting form which you may find in your mailbox right now, and we get the chance to stop people torturing animals on National Trust land.
Let's do it now. Let's make sure that hunters are not allowed on National Trust land from now on.
**Thu 14 Sep 17** OUR DIRECTOR ISN'T CALLED SINGER FOR NOTHIN' !!! Direct link
Our director isn't called Singer for nothin' !!! Ha ha ! Here is Bryan Singer living out just one more fantasy ... And look at his mates in the background !
Also I have news for all those would-be spoilsports who thought they'd captured the movie and leaked it. You didn't !!! All those shoots were trial runs. Not final threads, make-up, hair etc. So be comforted, good folks - all the important secrets of the film are still secret !!!
**Thu 14 Sep 17** THE TRAGEDY OF THE BADGER CULL Direct link
It hurts me to put this picture up. And I'm sorry if it hurts you. But this is the awful reality of what the Badger Cull means.
Only yesterday, this beautiful creature was full of life and joy and raising a family - and was very likely perfectly healthy. Now it lays pitifully lifeless, slaughtered in a ruthless campaign of legalised persecution - essentially a witch hunt based on no evidence whatsoever. This is a needless British tragedy - unworthy of any civilisation in the 21st century. History will tell that it was all for nothing - as ineffective in fighting an evil disease as was burning witches at the stake 300 years ago. Science and common sense will soon nail the REAL way to eradicate TB in cattle. But, in the meantime, are you prepared to watch Theresa May's Government and the National Farmers Union get away with this atrocity ?
Yes, I try very hard to stay dispassionate and treat every point of view with respect. But who could watch this cruelty without feeling angry and sad ? Especially when it's obvious the farmers are still being sold a pig in a poke. This was the time to pause and determine a better way forward. It's to this Government's eternal shame that they ignored the accumulating evidence of the folly of badger culling and are ploughing ahead with no hope of success.
All credit to those decent ordinary folk who are standing up against the Cull. At times like this it's hard to be proud to be British.
The killing has begun again, ramped up to kill thousands more badgers this year. I’m sure I’m not alone in finding these pictures very painful. It’s pitiful to see these magnificent families of creatures being destroyed.
I’ve been involved in the search for a solution to the problem of TB in cattle for 7 years now, and many of us believe we are on the brink of finding the real answer - an answer which lies in the herd and the testing - not in slaughtering wild animals. The case for killing wildlife as part of a strategy for cleaning up herds of cattle is incredibly weak, and a huge doubt hangs over this policy. Yet this Government blunders ahead as if they were blindfolded. It’s important to me to remain logical and I understand the points of view of all parties. Nevertheless I have to say today I’m heartbroken. This is a tragic waste of innocent lives, which will not help farmers or cattle; it’s also a criminal waste of taxpayers' money.
Shame on the destroyers of Britain's native animals, just so some of us can continue to drink cows milk, and others can make money out of producing it. When you put it like that - is this cruelty really justifiable ? www.savemetrust.org
**Tue 12 Sep 17** MEETING FELLOW STEREOSCOPIC EVANGELIST - JIM NAUGHTEN Direct link
Meeting a fellow Stereoscopic evangelist - Jim Naughten - his exhibition The Mountains of Kong at the @michaelhoppengallery just off Kings Road Chelsea. Nice ! Go see !! Photo by Denis Pellerin @londonstereoscopiccompany
That nice wooden viewer is for viewing big stereo prints on the wall.
This is Brian May and some of you may know that I released a book about Queen all in 3-D and this is it but this is a very special version and to me it's very thrilling because this is a big day, 'cos now we have a very special version of “Queen in 3-D” and I will show you why it's so special.
This is the Opening Ceremony, the 'unboxing' if you like, and take off the shrink-wrap ...
and you'll notice the lenticular on the front which is already 3-D but there's much more 3-D inside. But if I remove the book from its beautiful slipcase like this, then you see we have the “Queen in 3-D” but we also have the viewer which is the OWL stereoscope but the big big big thing is that this is no ordinary "Queen 3-D", this is Queen 3-D" in Italian.
And here we have everything.
"Momenti Miscellanea"...
This is Italian for Madison Square Garden and if there is so much in here.
Ah "Tutti Jiaponne" and you can see here we have mono pictures to enjoy but we also have lots of stereoscopic pictures which are here and this is where you use your viewer.
Your viewer, your OWL stereoscope is included in the package and once you take it out and fold it up it looks like this. You position it over the top of a stereoscopic pair like this and you're ready to view in 3-D, but you will be viewing in 3-D in Italian.
So here we go and it's amazing. It's just like your there, you know. It's so different from just a mono picture.
Mono pictures are nice. You've got colour and it's nice and big and its a nice memento, but when you see the 3-D picture it's an incredible feeling like you are there at the moment and you could almost walk through that window and talk to the people in there. So this is something I'm very excited about but I'm even more excited that it's now an Italian, beautifully translated by my wonderful friend Raffa, by the way, to whom I send much thanks and I hope you'll enjoy it,
Okay - arrive derci. We will see you soon on tour. God bless you,
**Fri 08 Sep 17** BiG DAY !!! TODAY THE CAMERAS ROLLED Direct link
Big day !!! Today the cameras rolled on Bohemian Rhapsody the Movie.
First shot is a magnificent and very emotional recreation of Live Aid, which is one of the pillars of the film's structure.
Wish I could show and tell you more than this, but we're all honour-bound - and truly the Bo Rhap ship is now sailing under her own steam, piloted by genius Bryan Singer our director and, as always, our magnificent stalwart producer Graham King.
Bon Voyage to all who sail in her ! So proud to see this fabulous team go forward.
Seen this before ? It's just a collection of our album covers - right ? No ! Look again. Zoom in. Every item in this photo is a recreation of those covers, from a photo session with the four Bo Rhap Boys who star in the Bohemian Rhapsody movie. Amazing !
I got truly choked today seeing them in action on a PERFECTLY recreated Live Aid set. We worked for over 7 years to put this project together. But even I wasn't prepared for the effect it was going to have on me - watching this piece of history lovingly remounted - but completely in the present day. I think I saw history being made today.
**Thu 07 Sep 17** BR - LAST DAY OF REHEARSAL Direct link
This man !! The man who is bringing Bohemian Rhapsody to life on the Big Screen. Bryan Singer is a phenomenon with the energy of a Saturn rocket. Today I am visiting his workplace !
This whole thing is truly blowing my mind ... Stupendous recreation of a moment ... in last day of rehearsal. Yeeeeeow !
**Wed 06 Sep 17** FIREFOX - I WAS OUTRAGED... Direct link
I was OUTRAGED that Firefox was forcing me to use Yahoo for every search. *********
THE SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM ? No amount of fiddling with preferences made any difference. The way my esteemed pal Justin finally got rid of the hijacking by Yahoo was:
1) go into the HELP menu at top of the Firefox homepage.
2) go into TROUBLESHOOTING INFORMATION.
3) Hit REFRESH. I am now Yahoo free.
I hope this will help anyone out there who is ha Inc similar problems.
**Wed 06 Sep 17** THE BO RHAP BOYS !!!! Direct link
The Bo Rhap Boys !!!! Or you could maybe call them the New Queen ? These great guys are already living and breathing their roles as us in our youthful prime. Left to Right: Joe Mazzello as JD, Gwilym Lee as BM, Ben Hardy as RT, Rami Malek as FM. Honoured !
**Tue 05 Sep 17** MY PRESENT TO FREDDIE - RAMI MALEK - AND - MEETINGGWILYM LEE Direct link
This is my present to Freddie - the first stereo portrait of the brilliant young man who will play the part of a Freddie in our movie - which you may have heard is called Bohemian Rhapsody ! He is called Rami Malek. He will channel Freddie's unique persona and passion. And I believe we shall do you justice Dear Freddie, once and for all !!!
Happy Birthday F.
Bri X
And here for comparison is Freddie himself - right ? Wrong. This is Rami revving up for the performance of his life. The whole thing is truly breathtaking now the production is taking shape. It feels like a rocket taking off. Shooting begins Friday.
And here's a great moment for me - meeting the fine actor who is playing me, the Young Bri, in the Movie - Gwilym Lee. This was our very first moment together three weeks ago - but I had to sit on this picture until the announcement was made. Today we spent some quality time connecting - talking guitars and philosophy ! And actually throwing some licks around ! Amazing times.
At LUSH conference right now. First time I've met Mr Corbyn - gotta say he's very impressive - speaks like a human being rather than a politician. And his aspirations for Britain have a lot in common with Common Decency.
Jeremy Corbyn on the sofa with Marc Constantine (creator of Lush). Talking good sense on attacking wildlife crime. I already did my bit on the sofa. Hats off to Marc and Lush for making the world a better place.
Just realised that somehow Firefox is now suddenly forcing me to use Yahoo as a search engine.
Shocking !
Moreover they’ve made it impossible for me to use Google search at all.
I’d be fascinated to know if this is true for all Firefox users. If so, I imagine other search engines would have a good case for suing Firefox for loss of trade.
I’m withdrawing from Firefox until this is sorted. Outrageous.
Oh really ? Any way I want it ? As long as it’s with Yahoo ?
And this is what I got when searching for Google !!!
Could not understand Google ?! Pull the other one !! This is a scandal !
Even if I manage to put Google in my browsing screen, as soon as I search for ANYTHING, it takes me back to Yahoo !
I’m incensed !!!
Is this Firefox’s doing, or Yahoo’s, or is it some kind of virus ? If I find out, folks, I’ll let you know.
I had the privilege of playing just once with these guys
– Walter and his long-time musical partner Donald suing –
at their induction to the USA Rock Hall of Fame.
As Steely Dan they took Rock probably the closest to pure Jazz it has ever been.
Their style was innovative and truly inimitable.
Our long-time front-of-house sound mixer, Trip Khalaf, used to annoy us by always
playing Steely Dan tracks through our PA at sound checks … because their faultless
mixes – with sounds meticulously crafted to spread across the sound spectrum without
mutual interference – were the perfect way to test a sound system.
Yes, we were annoyed but respectful !
Walter defined a guitar style that was all his own. Sad to see him go.
For the badgers - and actually for us as a nation - this cull is a tragedy and a disaster.
What’s less understood is that it’s a tragedy for the farmers and the cattle too. The drive behind continuing with a policy which is failing seems to be that ‘we have to be seem to do something, rather than nothing" - but sadly this ‘something' doesn't work.
The interests of the farmers would be much better served by a fresh look at this problem by the Government; we believe the real solution is in sight, through enhanced TB testing.
In years to come, I’m sure that badger culling will be seen as an enormous red herring, that squandered time, effort and money, gave farmers frustration and false hope, and diverted attention away from finding the real solution.
**Sat 02 Sep 17**
NATIONAL TRUST AND HUNT SABOTEURS? - AND - NEW STATESMAN Direct link
Well, ain't that peculiar ! Maybe the National Trust OUGHT to be aiding Hunt saboteurs. Surely parks should be protecting our wild animals, rather than protecting the scummy people who take pleasure in persecuting them ?
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Perhaps the message is finally getting through. This is a decent balanced article - I hope some frustrated farmers read it. The Government appear to be comfortable with the idea of slogging away for 25 years with no real hope of success. Depressing.