Me and the one and only Billy Shears.

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Van, originally uploaded by Colonel Blink.

That the singer's going to sing a song
And he wants you all to sing along
So let me introduce to you
The one and only Billy Shears
And Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Walking through Norwich I saw this van stopped on double yellow lines.
I wanted to photograph the man who had taken the name of a character from one of the Fab Four's most famous songs but he would not let me. "You can photograph the van", he said "but not me in these clothes". (He was wearing pre-faded blue denim jeans and jacket, a black t-shirt and a black machine knitted wooly hat without a bobble if you are wondering). I offered him a light for his roll up and left him to his sartorial inelegance.

As I walked off to cross the road on my way home I caught him out of the corner my eye watching me go wistfully. Oh God seemed to be written on his face what if he was with the New Musical Express and I am watching opportunity stroll away?

Anyway let me introduce to you his one and only van.

Finally

Colonel Blink finds it necessary to point out that there are hundreds of musicians calling themselves "Billy Shears"; here for example is a Scottish group and here is a chap in Canada. None of them, to my knowledge, is the "real" Billy Shears. As far as I know the name Billy Shears came from the nickname of the man who used to cut the Beatle's hair (a dab hand with a pudding basin presumably but utterly crap on guitar). I could be wrong but I realy do not care. Please stop emailing me. It's only show-biz and therefore "nothing is real and nothing to get hungabout". Get a life.