England Journal: Day Five. So today was the big day. After the thrilling night of the first concert in Liverpool at the Royal Court Theater, we needed to make our way to Newcastle Upon Tyne for the second and last show of the Crisis charity concert series, announced as held at the Journal Tyne Theater. [Read more…]
England Journal: Day Four. This was our second day in Liverpool, where the first of the two Coldplay “Hidden Gig” shows benefiting Crisis were held tonight. As noted in the prior journal entry, the “Hidden Gig” venue was not revealed until 24 hours before the show, and the venue announced was the Royal Court Theater. [Read more…]
England Journal: Day Three. This was the first day that was all about Coldplay. Oz and I met another Coldplay fan from the United States, Carrie, at Paddington Station. This was where we began our journey to the two “Hidden Gig” shows benefiting Crisis. [Read more…]
England Journal: Day Two. This was a very busy day. Mario, Oz and I took the train to Prop Store, which was a first visit for me. While the weather was not terribly bad at our arrival, it soon began snowing and actually made a sharp turn for the worst. We cut our visit short so as to not get trapped out at the store (admittedly not the worst place in the world to be stuck). [Read more…]
England Journal: Day One. This morning I flew into Heathrow Airport around 6:00 am and seeing the city waking up to darkness and already bustling with activity was a sight to behold. Breathtaking. It was an unexpected aerial tour of many of the largest historical landmarks of London. [Read more…]
This will be the first in a series of uncharacteristically informal and personal articles to close out 2010. Apologies for the lack of new articles over the past week – I have been busy preparing for a trip to England, and am publishing this first article via layover at an airport, with flight departing to London. I will be publishing (hopefully) frequent updates about my journey over the next week, in which I will be meeting up with some of my fellow prop collecting enthusiasts, visiting some prop-related attractions, and will be attending two charity concerts featuring performances by Coldplay, benefiting Crisis. [Read more…]
As a continuation of recent articles, the focus of this feature is the recent activity in the marketplace concerning the “Staff of Ra” headpiece props attributed to Raiders of the Lost Ark – all of which appear to have originated from the Harrison family (who retired from and sold the “Elstree Props” business in early 2008 and now sell unlicensed replica props as “Norank Engineering” and on eBay as “unisusu”). With one purchased for $450 and another offered for resale for $30,000 (along with a German hat), it certainly raises a number of questions and concerns, and warrants investigation, debate, and discussion. [Read more…]
As a continuation of the article published a few days ago (see ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, ‘Return to Oz’, Return to eBay, and Return of The Harrisons (formerly “Elstree Props”) from Retirement?) and direct update to one published back in February 2009 (see Elstree Props, Fertility Idols, Light Gods, Danziger Collection COAs (Multiple Topic Update)), I have secured additional information related to the outstanding question, “Who is N. Harrison?”, as signatory on “The Danziger Collection” of “Elstree Film Studios”, found on the previously issued Elstree Props COAs, prior to the change of ownership in early 2008. [Read more…]