From 'All Quite at Sea' to Sgt.Pepper and the Short Stories to Vincent Van Gogh

All is very quite out in the Atlantic. I've been unable to speak to Robin since he set sail yesterday, and as yet, haven't received any e-mails. This is unusual as it is high priority for him to establish some contact with home. I can only assume, they are having some technical difficulties on board the QM2, which will be resolved soon.
So, for today, it's just you and me!

After my blog about the re-creation of tracks from the 'Sgt.Pepper' album, there was a huge increase in traffic to the site. Not surprising really, but I was very pleased to find that many new visitors, stayed on to have a good look around. So, hello to you all, and do keep checking in.

Related to The Beatles blog, BBC Radio 4, are running a series all week. Five writers, all with Liverpool connections, have each chosen a track from Sgt.Pepper, and used it as the inspiration to write a short story.
Yesterday was, 'Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite', by Heidi Thomas.
Today, at 3.30, is 'With a Little Help from My Friends', by the fabulous Alexei Sayle, Wednesday will be 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds', by Linda Grant, Thursday, 'A Day in the Life', by Jimmy Mulville, and finally on Friday, 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band', by Laurence Wilson.
Read more about it on the BBC 4 site, and follow the links to listen again for up to seven days.

I also discovered this YouTube video, via artsJournal, 'Did Van Gogh trace his self-portraits?'

From this post, a short time ago, you will realize we are big Van Gogh fans here.
Whatever the final verdict, as far as I'm concerned, the skill is in the painting, no matter how the outline got there.
It seems unlikely that photography was used, because as far as I was aware, only one photo of Vincent existed, and it's very frustratingly of the back of him, as he walks away. Is the photo in the video authentic? I'd love to hear if anyone knows differently.
The camera obscura may have been an option, but once again, that doesn't account for his skill with the paint.

Meanwhile, back home, I think I'll start looking into the possibility of carrier pigeons.