What happened if you were actually in Finisterre at the time?

And now ... The Shipping Forecast

THE SHIPPING FORECAST ISSUED BY THE MET OFFICE
AT 1130 ON FRIDAY 28th JUNE 2002

Fitzroy used to be Finisterre but Spain (I Think) had another zone called this so they renamed the British zone after the Captain of the Beagle which seems a bit ironic because he was the first proper weather forecaster and no-one took him seriously so he committed suicide. Oh well! Galileo was right as well. Who is actually crazy? (Oh those hypothetical question mark blues).

Anyway, the shipping forecast is really calming at least to me if not the waters around this fair isle. Kate Bush actually uses a recording of the shipping forecast in the background as she sings "I'd tune into some friendly voices. Talking 'bout stupid things" in the song And Dream of Sheep. Rick Stein uses it in the title music to his seafood cookery program and I am sure there are many more. I am not usually listening to the radio when the Shipping Forecast is on but if you have not heard it then do give it a listen.

While browsing the website of Radio 4 I came across this proof that my side of a (slight|) arguement with my father regarding the fact the Derek Cooper who now presents the food program, used to do voice-overs for Tomorrow's World in the days when they had jazz as the theme music. The internet strikes again. My first major success on having a mystery solved on the internet was the line "Just like Arbogast on the top two stairs" from the song The New Millionaires by Latin Quarter (A brilliant and very sad album - I was thrown out of the CD club here at work because I bought that and a Clannad Album in succession and the rest of the members said that it was music to commit suicide to). Arbogast, as I am sure you film buffs will know is Detective Milton Arbogast from Psycho and the line refers to him at the top of the stairs in the Bates Motel. It took me years to find this out and it bugged me for all that time. Latin Quarter, by the way, seem to have vanished. The only website I could find is no longer available.

Here is the proof and the source of my relief :-

At the motel, we see Norman walking along the portico carrying his sheets. He disappears into the shadows just as Arbogast's car pulls in. Arbogast parks and walks to the office. He goes inside and calls out to Bates but gets no response. He walks into the parlor in back. The stuffed owl and raven hover overhead. There is a safe with its door ajar, but no contents of note. He looks around some more, then goes outside and eyes the house, a dark monolith with a light in an upstairs room.

He walks up the brick steps that cling to the hill and approaches the front door. It is unlocked. He removes his hat as he enters quietly. The door makes an uncomfortable sound when it closes behind him, disturbing the dead silence. He hesitates, looking about, then proceeds slowly upstairs. As he climbs, above him a narrow stream of light pours onto the hall carpet, from a slowly opening door. The camera places us high above the landing, looking down, as Arbogast reaches the top step. A woman rushes out of the room and stabs him in the head. He is knocked off balance and stumbles back down the stairs in a semi-upright, almost comic, backwards trot. We are drawn down with him, focused on his startled, bleeding face. The woman follows him down and kneels beside his sprawled body. Her knife rises into close view, then disappears again and again, as it is plunged down to where the detective lies--tastefully out of camera range. He lets out one last, loud groan.

From http://www.paradiselost.org/psycho.html

Just another interesting link - Martin Balsam who played Arbogast also played him in the spoof film Il Silenzio dei prosciutti. Strike Three!

Todays entry is turning into an episode of Connections and would you believe it there is a page called "The James Burke Connection". One day I will make up a complete entry in this style and you will have to see if you can guess which it is.

A final unresolved connection :-

What links Psycho to Reservoir Dogs?