Some amazing satellite images from GeoEye show just how many people attended Barack Obama's inauguration yesterday.
Oliver Postgate, the creator and narrator of Bagpuss, The Clangers and a series of other classic children's television programmes, has died at the age of 83.
His creations, which also included Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine and Pingwings, were screened on the BBC and ITV from the 1950s.
He narrated all of his productions in a calm warm voice that will be familiar to millions.
Postgate's animations were made by Smallfilms, the company he set up with the artist and puppeteer Peter Firmin.
Although only 13 episodes of Bagpuss were made from 1974, the pink "saggy, old, cloth cat" remains fondly remembered.
Postgate's partner, Naomi Linnell, confirmed he died at a nursing home near his home in Broadstairs, Kent, yesterday.
Born in Hendon, Middlesex, Postgate set up Smallfilms in a disused cowshed near Canterbury after spending his early years in a number of different jobs.
Regularly voted the UK's favourite children's TV character, Bagpuss started life as an idea about an Indian army cat in a children's hospital, Postgate told TV producer and Postgate fan Clive Banks in a 2005 interview. Professor Yaffle was inspired by a meeting Postgate had with Bertrand Russell, who had "a very dry, thin voice".
Postgate went to drama school in 1948 and started in the TV industry in 1957 as a stage manager at Associated Rediffusion. Unimpressed with the ten-minute children's programmes of the time, he thought he could do better and wrote his first script, Alexander the Mouse, which led to a long series of much-loved children's characters.
When explaining the creation of The Clangers to the BBC in 2005, he said: "We did not 'come up with an idea' as you put it. The first Clanger was sighted over 800 years ago (see the book Noggin and the Moonmouse - it's been out of print for decades). They have evolved a lot since then by natural selection and are pink because that was the colour of Joan Firmin's wool."
Postgate later told Banks that the BBC complained about The Clangers' bad language.
"When the BBC got the script, [they] rang me up and said 'At the beginning of episode three, where the doors get stuck, Major Clanger says sod it, the bloody thing's stuck again,'" he said.
"'You can't say that on children's television' ... I said 'It's not going to be said, it's going to be whistled', but [they] just said 'But people will know!' ... If you watch the episode, the one where the rocket goes up and shoots down the Iron Chicken, Major Clanger kicks the door to make it work and his first words are 'Sod it, the bloody thing's stuck again'."
Actively involved in the anti-nuclear campaign in the 1970s and 1980s, more recently Postgate devoted his website to discussing current affairs, publishing essays exploring "What is Trident for?", "Iraq: A morality play" and "Let's not go on being stupid", which implored the public to get involved in the political process.
Both he and Firmin were awarded honorary MAs in 1987 from the University of Kent - on the condition that they brought Bagpuss along, complete with mortarboard and gown, to share the award.
"The only reason they gave us honorary MAs was because of Bagpuss," he told Banks.
"So we took Bagpuss along, and I made a speech on Bagpuss's behalf, in which he let them know that he had no truck with this bourgeois flummery [because] he was an Orthodox Miaoist, which got a good laugh from the university people and caused the cathedral authorities considerable embarrassment at the time because it was taking place in Canterbury Cathedral and they didn't care for ribald laughter filling the place," Postgate added.
The licensing and merchandising rights to Bagpuss, the Clangers and Ivor the Engine were bought by Coolabi in October, when it purchased Licensing by Design for £400,000.
However, the TV rights to the characters were still owned by Postgate and Firmin, although they were due to be reviewed soon.
Del pointed this out to me and it all sounds rather splendid.
Yesterday was spent Christmas shopping with the Wife in Chester. It was all Christmassy and misty. A few drinks were drunk in the wonderful Old Harker's Arms and many gifts were bought.
Then the evening was rounded off meeting up with old friends at The Groves to see the legendary Jesse Green (he drummed with Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley don't you know) perform - my mates Neil and Lee played guitar and drums respectively (their pics are below) - in his new band Skazzmatic. It was a great night, and I don't like reggae but the band rocked and I boogied on down. Jesse Green is a great showman and I recommend you see the band if you get the chance.
Hello to everyone who was there including Jinja, Sara, Street Pete, Del, Andy D, Paul, Little Bitch, The Dude and Emma, Rich (who came all the way from Darlington to see the band), Will, Kev (who may be having his first visit to the site today) and all the people with dreadlocks.
Here is a video of Jesse Green back in the day.
Thanks to Del for sending me this from The Guardian last week. It's Simon Pegg's (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Star Trek) take on Charlie Brooker's zombie series, Dead Set, that was on E4 the other week. I really enjoyed the series and like both slow and fast zombies (the latter are particularly unfair though for any survivors of the zombie apocalypse). Here's what the Peggster had to say on the whole thing:
