Front Row Dress Circle

In 1986 the ground-breaking film about the Vietnam War – Platoon – introduced movie fans around the world to a very talented young actor by the name of Charlie Sheen. The surname was familiar enough; Charlie was the son of actor Martin Sheen. Platoon made Charlie a huge star and rightly won him fans all over the world, many predicted at the time that the young actor would one day win an Oscar. So what happened…? When you are a famous and successful actor Hollywood falls at your feet, nothing is beyond your grasp – whatever you want is yours…the women, the money, the fame, the best tables in the best restaurants. You can imagine a young man living such a life as if it would never end. But that’s the thing, it CAN end and very quickly and tragically too; think River Phoenix, think John Belushi, think Brad Renfro and Heath Ledger. All as talented as Charlie Sheen, all living the Hollywood dream and all dead before the age of 40. The common thread…? drugs. Are you listening Charlie-boy…? I can understand these young guys taking full advantage of the privileges that being a Hollywood star can bring, I can understand if Charlie Sheen wants to avail himself of the services of every two-bit hooker who crosses his path – their lives are on collision-course anyway. I can also respect Mr Sheen’s choice to leave this world at the peak of his career surrounded by dime-a-dozen floozies while lying in a pool of his own drug-induced vomit…if that’s what puts a smile on his face then by all means let him go for it and good luck to him. What a way to go eh guys…?

But after yet another drug-fuelled-orgy episode which has recently seen him left fighting for his life – again – I think someone needs to read this moron the riot act. This man, who treats life as though it were like a bottomless jar of marshmallow fluff, is the father of several young children. Like it or not this 40-something juvenile has responsibilities and obligations to people other than himself – very young people who need their father a hell of a lot more than he needs blow jobs from his series of rent-a-bimbo’s. Charlie Sheen needs to decide once and for all does he want to live or does he want to die. He has long since crossed the line from being young and reckless to being middle-aged and increasingly pathetic. It ain’t attractive Charlie. I suggest he make up his mind pretty damn fast because I feel his luck is quickly running out – and I would not be surprised if the obituaries have already been written.

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The adorable little boy pictured at left would one day grow up to be a King of the British Empire, the father of our present Queen Elizabeth II. As Prince Albert of Wales he looks like most little boys of the era which was the early 20th century, dressed in a sailor suit for the photographer as was the trend at the time. We all think he led a charmed life – as would assume all Royals do – but sadly his childhood was not the happy childhood it could have been. He was habitually abused as a toddler by a spiteful nanny and terrorised throughout his teens by an authoritative, demanding father and teased by his brothers – no wonder he was plagued by nervous problems and a crippling stammer into adulthood. I saw The King’s Speech at the weekend which details the years in which this little boy went from being the newly married Prince Albert, Duke of York, to King George VI and how he found a man who was able to help him ultimately control the stammer that made public speaking for him such a nightmare. Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist, became a significant part of ‘Bertie’s’ life giving him the skills and confidence he needed to deliver the many speeches that rallied a nation during wartime and marked his reign as so successful. Through the film you discover the traumas that caused the young prince to start stammering as five year old child and you really deeply for the young man who was living a relatively uncomplicated life as a Naval Officer when the biggest role of all was conferred upon him.

What comes across very strongly is the sense of vulnerability in a man who had not enjoyed a happy childhood or doting parents, but rather isolation and dominance. His love of his quiet family life with his wife and two daughters was interrupted by the Abdication but the rest, as we know, is history and if you ever wondered where the Queen gets her strength and resilience from then look no further – go see this brilliant film about a man who overcame so many personal problems and issues that we experience in our own lives today and see why he certainly was born to be King.

If Colin Firth (The King) and Geoffrey Rush (Lionel Logue) don’t both win Oscars for their roles in this film then I will eat my keyboard!

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There are some things which are in the very least tiresome and the eternal battle being waged over the name ‘Bucks Fizz’ has to rank as one of them. Maybe it’s me but I have lost track over who exactly Bucks Fizz is today and who they were thirty years ago…is it really that long?

As I understand it you have ‘Bucks Fizz’, ‘The Original Bucks Fizz’, ‘Bobby G’s Bucks Fizz’…then you have people who are the ‘original’ members, people who are ‘original’ members of the second version of the ‘original’ band and new members who are mad enough to step into the shoes of the ‘original’ members and get caught up in all this hoo-haa. The thing is none of them seem to like each other. There was Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston on he makeover show Pop Goes the Band in 2009 which was uncomfortable viewing at times as bad feeling still clearly existed between Jay and her later replacement Shelley Preston. Then you had that awful scene when Cheryl turned on past ex-bandmate David Van Day quite viciously when they faced each other on Celebrity Coach Trip recently.

With their 30th anniversary coming up they are at it again arguing over who owns the name and who doesn’t – why don’t the four authentic, original, first version members simply shake hands and reform as they were when pictured here in the photograph. I am sure they are as tired off dragging out this issue after all this time as people are of reading about their battles, their bad feelings towards each other and the bitterness that comes from over-inflated ego’s and hard-to-swallow pride. None of you are getting any younger so just get on with it eh?

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