Luiz Saurez

Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (American Spanish: [ˈlwis ˈswaɾes]; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Uruguayan national team as a striker.

In July 2014, Suárez moved to Barcelona for a fee reported by the English press in the region of £75 million (€94 million), while Barcelona claim a fee of £65 million (€81 million), making him the third most expensiveplayer in football history.^[2][3] He is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world.^[4][5][6]

Suárez began his career as a youth player for Nacional in 2003. He signed for Groningen in the Eredivisie in 2006 and transferred to Ajax in 2007. In 2008–09 he was named Ajax Player of the Year. The following year, he was made the club captain, helping Ajax win the KNVB Cup while becoming the league's top scorer with 35 goals in 33 games. He was also named Dutch Footballer of the Year and scored 49 goals in all competitions. In the 2010–11 season, he scored his one hundredth Ajax goal, joining a group of players including Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten and Dennis Bergkamp in doing so.

In January 2011, Suárez transferred to Liverpool for €26.5 million (£22.8 million). In February 2012, Suárez won the Football League Cup with the club. In April 2014, he won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, becoming the first non-European to win the award,^[7]and the FWA Footballer of the Year. As the Premier League's top scorer with 31 goals he won the Premier League Golden Boot, and shared the European Golden Shoe with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Suárez represented Uruguay in the 2007 U-20 World Cup. In the 2010 World Cup, he played an important role in Uruguay's fourth-place finish and scored three goals, and blocked an extra time goalbound header with his hands during the quarter finals against Ghana. At the 2011 Copa América, Suárez scored four goals for Uruguay as they won a record fifteenth Copa América and was named Player of the Tournament.^[8] On 23 June 2013, he became Uruguay's all-time record goalscorer with 35 goals. At the 2014 World Cup, he scored his 40th goal.

Suárez has been the source of much controversy throughout his career.^[9][10][11] As well as his 2010 World Cup goal-line handball, he has also bitten three opponents, the latest being Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup,^{[12][13][14][15]} has been widely accused of and admitted to diving,^[16][17] and was found guilty by the FA of racially abusing Patrice Evra,^[18] a decision Suárez disputes.^[19]

Clint Eastwood

Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor, film director, producer, musician, and politician. He rose to international fame with his role as the Man with No Namein Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy of spaghetti Westerns during the 1960s, and as antihero cop Harry Callahan in the five Dirty Harry films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These roles, among others, have made him an enduring cultural icon of masculinity.^[1][2]

For his work in the Western film Unforgiven (1992) and the sports drama Million Dollar Baby (2004), Eastwood won Academy Awards for Best Directorand Producer of the Best Picture, as well as receiving nominations for Best Actor. His greatest commercial successes have been the adventure comedy Every Which Way But Loose(1978) and its sequel, the action comedy Any Which Way You Can(1980), after adjustment for inflation.^[3]Other popular films include the Western Hang 'Em High (1968), the psychological thriller Play Misty for Me(1971), the crime film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), the Western The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), the prison film Escape from Alcatraz (1979), the action film Firefox (1982), the suspense thriller Tightrope (1984), the Western Pale Rider (1985), the war film Heartbreak Ridge (1986), the action thriller In the Line of Fire (1993), the romantic drama The Bridges of Madison County (1995), and the drama Gran Torino (2008).

In addition to directing many of his own star vehicles, Eastwood has also directed films in which he did not appear, such as the mystery drama Mystic River (2003) and the war film Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), for which he received Academy Award nominations, and the drama Changeling(2008). The war drama biopic American Sniper (2014) set box office records for the biggest January release ever and was also the biggest opening ever for an Eastwood film. He received considerable critical praise in France for several films including some which were not well received in the United States. He has been awarded two of France's highest honors: in 1994 he became a recipient of the Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and in 2007 he was awarded the Légion d'honneur medal. In 2000, he was awarded the Italian Venice Film FestivalGolden Lion for lifetime achievement.

Since 1967, Eastwood has run his own production company, Malpaso, which has produced all except four of his American films. He served as the nonpartisan mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California from 1986 to 1988.

Ovingdean Spitfire

Painted for the cook-house in BVUK Ovingdean, East Sussex

Laurel and Hardy

Painted for my wifes good friend, Emma Kirby

Laurel and Hardy were a comedy double act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema. The team was composed of thin Englishman, Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and heavyset American, Oliver Hardy(1892–1957). They became well known during the late 1920s through the mid-1940s for their slapstick comedy with Laurel playing the clumsy and childlike friend of the pompous Hardy.^[1][2] The duo's signature tune, which is known variously as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku" or "The Dance of the Cuckoos", played over the opening credits of their films.

Prior to their being teamed up, both actors had well established film careers. Laurel had appeared in over 50 films while Hardy had been in more than 250 productions. The two comedians had previously worked together as cast members on the film The Lucky Dog in 1921. However, they were not a comedy team at that time and it was not until 1926, when both separately signed contracts with the Hal Roach film studio, that they appeared in a movie short together.^[3] Laurel and Hardy officially became a team in 1927 when they appeared together in the silent short film Putting Pants on Philip. They remained with the Roach studio until 1940 and then appeared in eight "B" movie comedies for 20th Century Foxand Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1941 to 1945.^[4] After finishing their movie commitments at the end of 1944 they concentrated on performing in stage shows and embarked on a music hall tour of England, Ireland and Scotland.^[4]In 1950, before retiring from the screen, they made their last film which was a French/Italian co-production called Atoll K.

As a team they appeared in 107 films, with the pair starring in 32 short silent films, 40 short sound films and 23 full-length feature films. They also made 12 guest or cameo appearances that included the Galaxy of Starspromotional film of 1936.^[5] On December 1, 1954 the pair made one American television appearance when they were surprised and interviewed by Ralph Edwards on his live NBC-TV program This Is Your Life. Since the 1930s, the works of Laurel and Hardy have been released in numerous theatrical reissues, television revivals, 8-mm and 16-mm home movies, feature-film compilations and home videos. In 2005, they were voted the seventh greatest comedy act of all time by a UK poll of fellow comedians.^[6] The official Laurel and Hardy appreciation society is known as The Sons of the Desert which was named after a fictitious fraternal society featured in the Laurel and Hardy film of the same name.

My Nan

My Nan was born in Nagpur, India. She was a double for Elizabeth Taylor and was also a model.

Ray Hazan OBE

Raymond Hazan OBE

Raymond was totally blinded, lost his right hand and suffered severe hearing loss in an IRA parcel bomb explosion in 1973. He was on his second tour of duty with the Army inNorthern Irelandat the time. He has been helped by Blind Veterans UK ever since. Ray has been our President since October 2004.

After a period of training at Blind Veterans UK (formerly St Dunstan's) Ray spent two years at the International School of Interpreting in Mons, Belgium.  He was the subject of a BBC TV documentary in 1974, which followed his physical and emotional rehabilitation. 

He joined the Blind Veterans UK staff in 1977.  He spent many years in Public Relations, then moved to Welfare. He retired in February 2011 as Members Services Manager and Editor of our monthly in-house journal, the Review magazine.

He was elected as a member of our Council in October 1998, and President in October 2004. He retains both these positions.  He is also Vice-President of the International Congress of War Blind Organisations having also served terms with them as President, and a Freeman of the City of London.

Ray was born in Cheshire in 1945.  He was educated at Charterhouse and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.  Commissioned into the Royal Anglian Regiment in 1965, he saw service in the UK, Cyprus, Libya, Malaya, Kenya, and Gibraltar.

He was awarded an OBE in the New Year's Honours list in 2012 for his services to Blind Veterans UK and the blind community.

Ray is a licensed radio amateur and his interests over the years have included rambling, skiing, and computing.  He is also a member of a local Rotary Club.