Grand Canyon West Ranch

The helicopter stopped off at Grand Canyon West ranch, where we had a western style lunch whilst being serenaded by a singing cowboy (less corny thn it sounds). Keith and Jim did a short horse ride (I thought I'd better not with the bad back and all), there was bit of a mock shoot out staged for us and then I managed to round up a couple of dangerous outlaws!

Views from the helicopter

In the course of the 80 mile or so helicopter trip, we flew over Lake Las Vegas (where the rich people inc Celine Dion live according to our pilot), the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, and then the western edge of the Grand Canyon itself. Keith took loads of photos, only a small sample here.

Setting off for the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas

From San Francisco we flew to Las Vegas, which was to be the last port of call of our US visit. The high spot of the Las Vegas visit was the helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon - here we are setting off.

The Golden Gate Bridge

On the day we travelled on the cable car, we then walked over the headland just to the north of Fisherman's Wharf then hopped on a local bus to the Golden Gate Bridge -its actually more impressive from the distance than close up! We then caught a bus which went through the Presidio, a wooded area which is actually a military base, to Golden Gate Park. We then walked across the park and picked up a bus on Haight, which took us through the renowned 60s hippy Haight-Ashbury district back to Union Square. Very interesting stuff, and the public transport system was very impressive. San Francisco is certainly not a city where a car is vital to get around, like Los Angeles is.

San Francisco Waterfront

San Francisco is at the end of a peninsula so there is water on three sides of it. These pictures are of the Fisherman's Wharf area with views over to Alcatraz island. There is an area where a load of sealions have taken residence, and the authorities make sure they are not bothered by boats etc.

San Francisco Cable Car

We arrived in San Francisco Saturday 21st July - nice drive up PCH through agricultural areas rather than the coast, turned off at San Jose (yes we did know the way - at least the sat nav did!) along lovely tree lined if slightly scary Highway 17, then hit the interstate and entered SF through Oakland via the Bay Bridge. Wow - what a spectacular way to enter a city! A very three dimensional place, San Francisco - hills and water and tall buildings. We managed to find our hotel, the Chancellor, right on Union Square, then returned the car to the Alamo office just round the corner - not somewhere I would want to do much driving.

San Francisco had a great feel to it, vibrant and more bohemian / hippy in nature than any other US city I've visited. The public transport system is great as well - at various times we travelled on the cable car, the street car (trams) and various buses - there is a metro system as well but we didn't venture underground.

Carmel Valley ranch - me on the balcony

I could get used to this!

Carmel Valley Ranch - my favourite hotel of the trip - views of and from our balcony

We reached Carmel where we were staying at the Carmel Valley Ranch, by far the most expensive hotel we stayed in during our US trip. It was a bit like "The Prisoner", people came and drove you around in mini-vans if you wanted to go anywhere, and the accomodation was just amazing. Luxurious bathroom (I spent about 2 hours of our time there in the bath), log fire (not that we needed it), and the most tremendous balcony and view you can imagine. When I win the lottery I think I'll go and live there.

Ventana on Big Sur

There was nowhere to stop for a drink along the PCH for miles and miles. When we reached civilisation again, we turned off the road into a restaurant and hotel called Ventana which was up in the hills above the coast. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven - it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to in my life. We had coffee and deserts from the menu (it was quite an expensive restaurant) and looked down on the trees and the birds flying by.

Elephant seals

We saw a sign for an Elephant Seal viewing point just off the PCH - and there they were, seemingly hundreds of them, lying on the beach moulting and mooing. Tremendous!

Big Sur Coastline

Thursday 19th we set off driving up the coast and stayed Thursday night in Santa Barbara, a lovely relaxed sort of place with none of the brashness of Los Angeles. Beautiful weather so spent most of the afternoon around the hotel pool. I also managed to fit in a trip to the local ER as it was only a few doors from our hotel, and got some great painkillers (Vicodin) from the charming young female doctor that I saw for the princely sum of $130 - good nights sleep with no back pain should be assured! Although the downside was you're not meant to mix the pills with alcohol. Never mind, they were good pills. Jim tells me there the ones that you hear about celebrities getting addicted to - I can understand why, they certainly kill the pain and make you feel pleasantly at one with the world. Narcotics Anonymous beckons.

Friday we spent driving up to Carmel from SB, quite a long drive of about 220 miles up the famous Highway 1, Pacific Coast Highway. What a road, what scenery - it was just wow moment after wow moment.

Hollywood Hollywood - so good I managed to post my pictures twice

On Tuesday 17th July we did a road trip, north from Santa Monica along the ocean, picking up Sunset Boulevard and following it all the way to Hollywood. Saw Graumann's Chinese Theatre, the Walk of Fame with all the stars on the pavement and also got to see the Hollywood sign from the Hollywood and Highland Mall. Fairly tacky but enjoyable - there were lots of folks walking around dressed as movie characters - Yoda, Shrek, Batman, etc etc. Saw Shrek with his head off down an alley having a quick ciggy. Keith also bought a bargain Creative Zen MP3 player ($50 i.e. about £25 for something that would cost him c £130 in the UK) at the Virgin Megastore.

We headed off into the Hollywood Hills and the canyons via Mulholland Drive on our way back - you could be miles from anywhere up there. Los Angeles is certainly a place of contrasts. Met up with Mike for a drink again at the hotel bar Tuesday evening - he's a star!

Gardens at the Getty Centre in Los Angeles

We set off for Los Angeles from Heathrow on Friday 13th July at 11.30 am and arrived as you do at 2.30pm after an 11 hour flight. We picked up a rental car (a Pontiac something or the other, full size model so about the dimensions of a Mondeo) and set off for Santa Monica, straight onto those humongous multilane freeways much loved by our Californian friends. We found the hotel but unfortunately I managed to do my back in trying to get the parking ticket out of the machine going into the hotel parking lot. Hurt a bit but nothing too awful. We checked in and then explored Santa Monica, including a walk along the pier, a couple of beers then burgers on 3rd Street Promenade.

Back to the hotel to sleep as our bodies thought it was about 5 am - then at about midnight US time I woke up screaming in agony, the back had gone ballistic. My packing hadn't run to painkillers so Keith and Jim set off in a taxi to the back of beyond to a 24 hour pharmacy as instructed by the concierge and came back with some super Advil which was meant to take away the pain and help you sleep. Anyway, 20 minutes later I was looking st that burger again as the pills just seemed to upset my stomach and make me vomit.

Next day and the one after spent very quietly by me - lying in bed or by the hotel pool while Keith and Jim explored Santa Monica and Venice Beach on foot - although we did get out Saturday night and met up with Mike and Hannah Randle at the Kings Head English Pub in Santa Monica. Great to see them again and catch up on the last two years since Mike was last in the UK touring with Love.

By Monday I was ready to get out and about again as I was doing the driving. So we went to the Getty Centre, which is in a great position on top of a hill, and has wonderful gardens as well as a world class art collection. Back held out OK with the help of some slightly less corrosive painkillers.

My Personality

Neuroticism	29
Extraversion	77
Openness To Experience	10
Agreeableness	50
Conscientiousness	72

You are sociable, outgoing, energetic, and lively. You prefer to be around people much of the time. You are generally calm and composed, reacting moderately well to situations that most people would describe as stressful. As a practical person you like to think in plain and simple terms. Others describe you as down-to-earth, practical, and conservative. You have some concern with others' needs, and are generally pleasant, sympathetic, and cooperative. You set clear goals and pursue them with determination. People regard you as reliable and hard-working.

Test Yourself Compare Yourself View Full Report Our range of Ugg Boots

Santa Monica Boulevard - we love it!

I love LA! (copyright Randy Newman)

Hate New York City
It's cold and it's damp
And all the people dressed like monkeys
Let's leave Chicago to the Eskimos
That town's a little (bit) too rugged
For you and me, you bad girl
Rollin' down the Imperial Highway
With a big nasty redhead at my side
Santa Ana wind blowin' hot from the north
And we was born to ride

Roll down the window, put down the top
Crank up the Beach Boys, baby
Don't let the music stop
We're gonna ride it till we just can't ride it no more
From the South Bay to the Valley
From the West Side to the East Side
Everybody's very happy
'Cause the sun is shining all the time
Looks like another perfect day
I love L.A. (We love it)
I love L.A. (We love it)

Look at that mountainLook at those trees
Look at that bum over there, man He's down on his knees
Look at these women There ain't nothin' like em nowhere
Century Boulevard (We love it)
Victory Boulevard (We love it)
Santa Monica Boulevard (We love it)
Sixth Street (We love it, we love it)
I love L.A.(We Love It)
I Love L.A.(We Love It)
I Love L.A.(We Love It)


13th July we're off to California i.e. we being me, Keith and Jim. Starting off in Santa Monica for six nights, driving up the coast with stops at Santa Barbara and Carmel, four nights in San Francisco, then flying to Las Vegas for two nights (inc helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon) before flying back o the UK.

We love it!

Its been a while

I've done some nice stuff since my last post. We had a great holiday in Ithaca - a small island off the Greek island of Cephalonia. Lovely swimming, very relaxed place, nice albeit simple hotel. Great company as well - we went with our friends Steve and Wendy. I've put a couple of photos on Tina's pics.

Also Keith and I went to see the Pet Shop Boys in concert last week - very entertaining show. I've always been a big fan but this was the first time I've seen them live - I've been singing their songs all week.

Work good has been as well, I seem to have turned into Yoda - for guidance the young folks come to me.

Now Keith..... Keith if anything has been far too cheery for my liking - sorry if that sounds somewhat bah-humbuggish. Perhaps its manic depression and he's in the manic phase. Much better than him being depressed, but sometimes when I'm dragging myself off to work its a bit much. Probably he'll revert to his old miserable self in a while, and that won't suit me either.

Hey ho.

May the fourth be with you

Yes I know I'm two days late but I have been thinking about posting since Friday.

Finally got to meet Mike Troubled Diva this week, he kindly invited me to be his "plus one" at the Maria McKee gig at the Rescue Rooms after I posted some comments on his site. A lovely chap, and the strange thing about the blogosphere is that you really feel you know people pretty well before you actually met them in the flesh.

I also realised that I don't particularly worry about going places on my own, I was in the Rescue Rooms bar for a while before Mike showed up as I got there really early and wasn't in the least uncomfortable. I think I have a hang up, which a lot of women have, about going by yourself to pubs, bars etc which was instilled at an early age. Fear of being set upon by men with dishonourable intentions perhap. Well at my age I reckon thats unlikely to happen, and also the Rescue Rooms is a place where a woman of a certain age like myself is not out of place at all. I think I'm going to go for it more often from now on - I've missed out on going to see a few artists I was keen to see because of lack of someone to go with me. Keith is not at all keen although he lets himself be dragged reluctantly to the odd one if its someone he's heard of - he's a big Bob Dylan fan but after a dire NEC show he decided he didn't want to go and see him any more. Our friend Steve has accompanied me a number of times, but his tastes are more left field than mine - Durrutti Column, Pere Ubu, The Fall etc - all good in their way and interesting to see (except the Fall who didn't turn up until some ridiculous hour when Keith had decided he already wanted to go home). Its a real shame I don't live nearer to Lizzy, but the 180 mile trip to Newcastle is a tad far to go on a week night for a gig.

So I reckon I'm going to look out for gigs I like the look of and go for it whether I've got a "plus one" or not. Seeing live music is one of the great pleasures of my life, and I had a great introduction with Lizzy in Newcastle in my teens of seeing some brilliant people live. Well, now I'm out the other side of the settling down / getting married / babies / building a glittering career (?) zone, and I reckon that a little bit of what I fancy will do me good.

I am going to see Rod Stewart in Manchester in June with Emma, my good friend who's about 20 years younger than me and really has got a glittering career - lots of noughts on the end - but somehow I don't think I'll get her down the Rescue Rooms - her Jimmy Choos would stick to the floor.

A sunny day in old Nottingham town

I've just got back from seeing a free gig by Tony Hadley and his Big Band in the (new) Old Market Square in the centre of Nottingham - very good. I was never a huge Spandau fan (I'm probably a tad on the old side) but I always thought the bloke had a good voice. He has still, very powerful and melodic - I heard that he's doing musical theatre now and probably doing it very well. Cracking band as well - 10 piece horn section, drums, double bass, bass guitar and a guy on piano doing the musical direction. They gave us a range of swing numbers - classics by Sinatra, Tony Bennett etc, Beatles "Ride my car"and a cracking"Suspicious Minds", as well as the well received Spandau Ballet numbers.

Quite a show for the price of a few hours parking. I don't actually live in the City of Nottingham but I'm glad to see that the good council tax payers of that fair city are getting something useful for their money.

Axe murderers with very small axes....

I went to a sort of mini-blogmeetette yesterday evening - I was invited by the lovely Miss Mish, who I have been involved in on-off email correspondence with for some time. She's a star, and a very funny lady. A massive Stranglers fan - and she told me that she had been texting JJ Burnel that very afternoon! Plus other stuff she may not want me to repeat here. Saltwater bar in the Cornerhouse in Nottingham was the venue. I met Argy Bargey, whose exploits in China and particularly his nasty accident I have followed with interest. Also a hairy chap answering to the moniker Hantsbear. Plus Phil, Mark, Ruthie - I didn't pick up whether or not they were bloggers. Nice folks all, an interesting bunch.

I also had a gander at the book, Shaggy Blog Stories, to which Michelle and James have contributed - looks great, so I've ordered my own copy today.

And the heading - I had been reasonably vague with Keith as to who I was meeting for a drink after work, and Michelle asked if I was going to tell him about them now that I knew that they weren't a bunch of axe murderers - I said I'd tell him that they only had very small axes.

Granada

We had a short trip to Granada last week - cheap flight from EMA courtesy of Ryanair. We stayed in a brilliant little hotel called Casa Morisca (Moorish House) which was recommended on Tripadvisor - this is actually the view from our bedroom window, pretty hard to beat anywhere in Europe I would hazard. You could sit in the bath, sipping on a glass of chilled cava, and gaze out on this lovely scene.

Loved it, as did Keith.

The Alhambra - beautiful...

We went to Granada last week.... me in an Alhambra doorway

Keith got his early retirement....

Yay!!!

Life has been pretty tough since Keith went off sick from work at Christmas time 2005. Not financially, we're reasonably secure, but Keith has felt poor since he stopped work even though he had 6 months on full pay and six months on half pay. Initially he was really ill, but lately its just been more of a general malaise and a overall feeling of low self esteem etc.

However betwen us and with the help of a lovely lady from the NUT, we've managed to chart the tortuous waters of claiming for ill health early retirement from the Teachers pension scheme. Sounds boring but its crucial stuff. And talk about semantics.....you have to have the wording in the letter from your doctor(s) just right, if they give any glimmer of hope that you'd be fit to work before age 60 then you've got no chance.

Anyway the gloom has lifted, the weight has been taken off his shoulders, and he's reinvented himself as Mr Garden Man.

Guess I've got to plod on for a few years more. Thats OK. And I'm just glad that I'm fit and well. Touch wood.

P.S. Jim is home from Uni as well at the moment which is great. We booked stuff re his graduation in July last night - academic gown hire, photos, lunch. Some folks out there are making a lot of money from proud parents.

I belong in 1968.....no surprise there then!

***You Belong in 1968***
If you scored...
1950 - 1959: You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!
1960 - 1969: You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too.
1970 - 1979: Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all!
1980 - 1989: Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.
1990 - 1999: With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!
What Year Do You Belong In?http://www.blogthings.com/whatyeardoyoubelonginquiz/

Love Story in Gothenburg

Ryanair - spawn of the devil or saviour of the western world? Discuss.

Thus it was that Lizzy and I arrived at a hugely busy Stansted Airport at 5am on Saturday morning, after a 2 hour drive from Nottingham - that 2.30 am alarm, dontcha just love it. It seemed like that half of Europe was on the move, doubtless inspired like us by promises of 1p flights to exotic destinations. Everything moved along smoothly and at 6.55 we were off on our way to Gothenburg.

Skies were clear so a good view out of the porthole. Lots of sea, then over Holland and Denmark with seemingly thousands of wind farms. Across the sea again to Sweden, coming down we could see all of the offshore islands, very popular with summer visitors according to the Swedish lady sitting next to us. We landed at Gothenburg City Airport, seemingly a shed in a field, but service was pretty slick, and soon we were on the airport bus to Gothenburg. Pine and birch trees, wooden houses, road signs to places with wonderful guttural sounding names.

After a short ride we were off the island of Hissingen and over the bridge into the city of Gothenburg - Europe's fourth largest port after Rotterdam, Hamburg and London as the bus driver told us. Impressive looking place. Big ships. Smart bus station. We walked around a bit and found our hotel near the station and main post office, dumped our things and found a tram which would take us to the cinema - very efficient. Past the huge Ullevi Stadium and then off the tram at the Scandinavium (ice hockey stadium I think) and into the cinema, clutching the piece of paper in Swedish which hopefully meant we had tickets booked for Love Story. We did, the guy behind the counter spoke perfect English, and we had our tickets and Film Festival membership cards.

Into the cinema and we're pleased to see its pretty full, not far off sold out. A Swedish lady introduces the film and Mike Kerry, who's due to give a Q&A session at the end - she says that Love is her favourite band.

Other folks, particularly Gill and John E, have given their views about the film on the message board after the London screening. I found it riveting, it pulled a lot of strands together for me. High spots: - Snoopy was a scream, a real off the wall character - Johnny was very articulate and and contextualised the stuff going on in the 60s in the rest of the world with what was happening with the band- Jac Holtzman's comments about Aloneagainor being the door provided by Bryan for the world to access Forever Changes - tremendous.

It was heart stopping to see the interviews with Bryan - Mike Kerry revealed in the Q&A session that the footage had come from the rushes from the documentary"Hey Hey we're not the Monkees" - really well edited into the later interview footage.

And Arthur?

Arthur was Arthur - and he was so cool.......... Walking round the Castle like he owned the place - he made a comment about how he could have bought it for $50,000 in 1967 and now it was worth $6 million or so. And I loved his advice about drinking two glasses of water for each glass of wine - oh yeah? Raised a laugh around the cinema. No sub-titles - seems like everyone in Sweden can understand colloquial US English - Swedes, I take off my (woolly) hat to you! (It was cold!)

Mike Kerry gave a Q&A session at the end, the man is obviously a great fan. Lizzy and I had a quick chat with him and Zena, long enough to exchange mobile numbers, before he was whisked off to talk to a journalist.

We had the rest of Saturday and Sunday morning in Gothenburg - we felt quite at home there, it was like England would be if things worked. Great public transport, clean streets, interesting shops, tall attractive people and lots of lovely looking kids. Fantastic fish to eat, beer not as expensive as we had been led to believe it would be. Who could wish for more.

Lizzy and I spent some time discussing why Love is so popular in the UK and in Scandinavia, places with cold winters and dark nights. My theory is this - California is a place where the sun shines all the time and most of the music that came out of there in the 60s was sunny, happy, chocolate covered marshmallow music. Love's stuff wasn't like that, it sounds like music from a place where some of the nights are dark and long, and cold winds sometimes blow, and we understand that in Northern Europe. Which may or may not be a complete load of bollocks.

We saw Mike and Zena again at the airport on the way back and had a chat. Nice people.

Anyway, the film is a great tribute to Arthur. And Gothenburg is a great town. We'll be back - such a shame Arthur won't be.

I'm back - I think...

I haven't logged into my blog for ages but decided I would this evening.I was prompted to convert to Google, which I did.......and then discovered I had 21 unmoderated comments! I was beginning to think that nobody loved me - you did, I just wasn't getting the emails!!

So to everyone whose comments I have ignored - Lizzy, Maria, Lisa Rullsenberg, Swiss Toni, Miss Mish, AMDG, Threelight, Adem, Cody Bones, Stef to name but a few - MY APOLOGIES! I guess I'm just technologically illiterate.

There were some nice comments too!!

Hey ho

I promise I'll be back soon with some proper stuff. Including details of my and Lizzy's upcoming trip to Gothenburg, Sweden's second city to se a film about Love and Arthur Lee which s being shown at the Film Festival - so watch thsi space.

God I'm lazy.....but then it is my birthday so I'm allowed

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 36 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Which tarot card are you??

You are The Empress

Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.

The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents,
beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home
decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.

The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Mad people’s constant gibbering to be disguised with Bluetooth headsets

Care-in-the-community patients were given a boost this week under plans to give them dummy Bluetooth headsets. From now on, mad people walking down the street ranting to themselves will appear to be busy executives talking to the office using the latest mobile phone technology.
‘It’s very cheap and very effective’ said junior health minister Hilary Michaels: ‘With just a bit of plastic stuck in their ear, or perhaps even an old wire dangling down from an earpiece, the public’s attitude completely changes.’ During a pilot scheme in Bristol, released mental patients were able to walk down a busy street shouting to themselves without everyone crossing the street or diving inside to lock up their off licenses. Even on public transport, schizophrenics were able to talk loudly without other passengers opting to change train carriages or move to the downstairs of the bus.
‘Of course it does depend slightly what the mentalists are saying’ said the minister. ‘We had one nutter apparently making a call to work who just kept shouting ‘Bastards!’ over and over again. But I think people just thought he was having a bad day in the office.’ The idea is a big step forward in the rehabilitation of people with mental illnesses since acceptance by the general public can go a long way towards rebuilding self-confidence and ending psychosis and paranoia. ‘This dummy headset is the reason I am normal again’ said ‘Mark’ who was first sectioned twelve years ago; ‘It’s helped me overcome many of the irrational fears that dominated my everyday thoughts and now I’m hoping to train as a professional long-haul pilot. If it wasn’t for those little men who live in the radiator who want to burn me, everything would be perfect.’

Thank you so much beachhutman

Starting Out

Hey this is good - Lizzy is putting stuff on youtube. I'm the daft looking quiet one on the right!

Stop playing with my heart, finish what you start...

Well I pleaded with Swiss Toni to let me do this so I'd better put a bit of effort into it!

1) Borderline - Madonna
No introduction needed here. I'm not Mrs Ritchie's greatest fan but I adore this track, which came on during the shuffle mode on my beloved MP3 player this afternoon. Mike Randle (pictured) did an acoustic version of this track when he did a solo show at Fibbers in York and it sounded good that way as well.



2) 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
Tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchen
Pour myself a cup of ambition
And yawn and stretch and try to come to life
Jump in the shower and the blood starts pumpin'
Out on the street the traffic starts jumpin'
The folks like me on the job from 9 to 5

Dolly, dontcha just love her! She's become almost a pastiche of herself, but my bet would be thats she's one of the smartest artistes on the planet.

P.S. Just spotted that Lord Bargain had this in his list or earworms last week - that must be where it inveigled its way into my head - just goes to show how very earwormy the track is!!

3) Rudebox - Robbie Williams

According to Victoria Newton of the Sun "The worst record ever made..."

Personally I love it. Good show Robbie old chap! If you look at the website via the link, check the video clip with Lego men - sheer brilliance!

P.S. Interesting fact - Victoria Newton lived for a while in West Bridgford as a teenager, she is the daughter of Don Newton who was deputy head at Rushcliffe School.

4) One night in Bangkok - Murray Head

A song about chess... you don't get many of those. In fact I can't think of any others.. "From a jack to a king" - oh no thats cards - "Only a pawn in the game" perhaps??

I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine!

I heard this on the radio the other day and can't get it out of my head since - its from an obscure musical written by the Abba boys and Tim Rice. Great lyrics.

5) Superfreak - Rick James

We saw the great film "Little Miss Sunshine" this week and this track features in its amazingly funny denouement - see it if you possibly can!!

Where MC Hammer got his riff (Can't touch this)...

6) Annie I'm not your daddy - King Creole and the Coconuts

Covers similar ground to "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson - the tricky question of paternity. Both great songs. We went to see King Creole and the Coconuts at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham many a long year ago and they were brilliant live, a wonderful stage show, more of a musical extravaganza than a bog standard gig. The Coconuts did brilliant dance routines, Kid Creole and side kick Coati Mundi bounded about the stage and they had a really tight backing band. Loved it.

Wikipedia article says the Kid now lives in Dinnington, South Yorkshire! Not many coconuts there I would guess.

7) The One and Only - Chesney Hawkes

This came into my head and stayed there during the week when the cleaner at work, Shirley, told me her new grandson was called Chesney. I would hazard a guess that there are a number of 15 year old Chesneys in schools around the UK but not too many new babies with the same moniker.

Shirley has now got three grandchildren and she's younger than me. That fact makes me feel both middle class and old, neither of which are conditions I aspire to. Hey ho..

8) Get Back - The Beatles

Now I'm not the world's greatest Beatles fan - is it heretical to utilise the word "overrated" here?? But I love this song.

Get back Loretta
Your mother's waiting for you
Wearing her high-heel shoes
And her low-neck sweater
Get on home Loretta

Hadn't heard about the "Pakistani" stuff until I read the Wikipedia piece - old P McC always acted like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. Satire allegedly.

9) Michelle Shocked - Anchorage

Leroy says hey keep on rockin' girl!

Part of the small sub-genre of popular music that I guess you could call letter songs - like road songs, story songs etc- just basically a letter to Michelle from an old friend who now finds herself living in Alaska with husband and two kids - you know you're in the biggest state of the union when you're anchored down in Anchorage.

A bit like Scunthope but with added ice.

10) It's like that - Run DMC v Jason Nevins

This was on the TV at the gym the other day - unfortunately I'd forgotten my earphones so I had to sing along - love the video. Just the job for pounding the cross trainer - thats a very loose use of the word "pounding" there.

Anyway, off the see The Blockheads tonight at the Rescue Rooms - will report back re that later. Saw them in 1979 with the late great Ian Dury, then again in July 200 with Phill Jupitus doing vocals, brilliant tight band on both occasions.

So how is it all going Tina??

Anybody who looks at this blog will probably spot fairly quickly that I'm not normally one for hanging out my emotions / feelings for all to share - always been that way, well before blogging was invented, always will be I guess. Partly with the blogging stuff it's to do with who might be watching - although my site meter tells me its hardly tens of thousands of people a day!

I have found blogging cathartic in a way however that some people have benefitted from therapy - i.e. telling some total stranger whats going on in your head. The story of the Love stuff as something I needed to get out, to document, to make sense of in a way. I found it hard to talk to Keith or my friends other than Liz about it, on the whole they thought I was bonkers. Keith understands it a lot better now, partly from having read my blog.

Anyway the answer to my opening question is "Its going OK". Some terrible things have happened in the last couple of years to people around us - Liz's cancer, the murder in Steve and Wendy's family - my god I can't think of anything worse in the world than that - also other friends have been seriously ill, and there have been divorces and deaths. Not many births or marriages but then thats a product of our age.Chronological rather than epochal. But it all helps to make sense of what life is all about. Relationships with other people. Being happy with yourself and knowing who you are and what you stand for. Being kind to yourself and others.

I still don't get on very well with my mum however and that taxes my brain sometimes. I guess its getting late to do something about it now, unfortunately her mind is starting to go and its very hard to have a conversation with her. I should just let all of the perceived slights over the years go - perhaps I already have if the "perceived" I just typed is anything to go by. Or perhaps its because we are too alike and I see my faults in her. The worst thing Keith could ever say to me in an argument was "You're getting just like your mum".

Hey Ho

On a more materialistic note, I've treated myself recently as I won £100 two months in a row in my employer's charity lottery!! So I've bought a digital radio and an MP3 player, which I am filling up with music as I type. The little player is fantastic, it got 10 out of 10 in the Guardian this week and my brother recommended it, and he knows about that sort of stuff. I'll report back later when I've got it all figured out.

Machiavellian - what, me??

The Machiavelli personality test has a range of 0-100. Your Machiavelli score is: 65. You are a high Mach, you endorse Machiavelli's opinions.

Most people fall somewhere in the middle, but there's a significant minority at either extreme.

This is where we live...

Brilliant website this! Have a look at in birds eye view.

England is certainly a green and pleasant land looking at this.Our garden is quite long and we have lots of trees.

We've just got back from Edinburgh...

and this is what we did:

Sunday evening - spent lots of time at Nottingham East Midlands Airport courtesy of BMIBaby and Al Quaeda

Stayed in a flat on Caledonian Crescent off the Dalry Road - dinner from local Tandoori takeaway the Lazeez

Monday 13th
am; Van Gogh and Britain
2.40pm: Keith Carter - The Fall of the House of Fraser
4pm: Gamarjobat
7.30pm: Tony Law - The Dog of Time
Another Tandoori takeaway as it was so good on Sunday

Tuesday 15th
am: Robert Mapplethorpe
1.15pm Midnight Cowboy
6pm: Happy Hour in It Takes Three
Dinner at La Partenope restaurant on the Dalry Road

Wednesday 16th
2.10pm: Ed Weeks Variety
4pm Chanbara
7.30pm: Maria Bamford - Plan B

Thursday 17th
am Phoebe Anna Traquair Murals at the Song House, St Mary's Cathedral
12.15pm: Radio 4 Stars of the Future
4pm: Skinner and Bell - The Men who cheated Death
Another lovely meal at the Partenope restaurant on the Dalry Road

Friday 18th
am: visited Valvona and Crolla
1pm; Snakes on a Plane
4pm: VHS - Death to DVD
Repeat performance of Sunday evening but this time at Edinburgh airport

Saturday
1am Bed - sweet sleep!!

We had a fantastic time, I think its the fifth year on a row we've visited Edinburgh in August and it just gets better and better. Some quality bonding time with Keith and Jim as well - we all like our stand up comedy particularly - and Snakes on a Plane was a complete hoot! Nothing we saw was crap, the comedy shows were on the whole very funny, we got most of our tickets from the half-price ticket both at Waverley Station. The most disappointing show was probably Midnight Cowboy. The visual arts exhibitions we attended were great.Tried to get tickets for Black Watch, the hit of the Fringe, but it was not to be.

Got to go now - will put the rest of the links in later.....

Arthur Lee RIP 1945 - 2006

Arthur Lee died yesterday in hospital in Memphis

Keith the saviour of the bird population

Earlier on in the blog I posted about the owl that flew into our house - now Keith has manfully saved another member of the bird population.

We were sitting at home on Thursday evening and heard some scrabbling in the chimney - we have open fires in winter. Keith took away the newspaper that was blocking up the chimney and pulled out - a pigeon! Covered in soot, decidedly shellshocked, but a pigeon nonetheless, which presumably had fallen down the chimney.

I am a wimp where matters of birds are concerned so I ran a mile. Keith shouted to me to get the camera, he then took the bird outside and washed it down - its eyes were completely covered in soot and it couldn't see. It then shook itself, shed a considerable quantity of feathers, and flew off.

My profile picture

Talk about being economical with the truth...

The photo is from my 1974 student union card, I would have been 20 when the pic was taken. Someone said that I looked a bit like Patti Hearst (which won't mean a lot to the under 45s).

I scanned it in for a message board on another site where they were after pics from poster's youths - and my excuse is that it was one of the few pics I had stored on the pc that was small enough in mega byte terms) to add to my profile here.


And by the way I'm blonde haired now - funny how that happens...

Tone

Our good friend Tone has been round this evening. We've known Tone since he was 22 when he started teaching with Keith straight from his PGCE year - Tone is now 50, I am 52 and Keith 55 i.e. 28 years ago. Both Keith and Tone have been teaching at the same school all of the intervening years, although regular readers will know that Keith has been away from work suffering from anxiety and depression since Christmas.

Tone was single until he was in his late 30s - he then met "I", who is the same age as Keith and was married at the time. They subsequently started an affair, "I "then left her husband and she and Tone were married about 6 years ago

A couple of months ago Tone came around to see us to say that he and "I" were separating temporarily and that he had moved into a rented house - things weren't going too well between them. We've seen him quite a lot since then as things have been quite hard for him. We went round to his rented house last Sunday and watched the World Cup final with some other friends and Tone gave us a great meal. Walking home, the friends told us the real story - "I" had been reunited, via her work, with a childhood sweetheart and had decided she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Goodbye Tone.

The whole situation has cut me up like a knife to the heart. When we first knew Tone, he was about the age our son Jim is now. He's been a model husband as far as I can tell, and has been the best father that "I"'s two daughters, now in their 20s, have ever had. I feel angry and upset in equal parts and I don't really know why I have such a depth of feeling. Loyalty and trust are important to me I suppose. I feel very protective towards Tone, possibly the feeling being magnified because I've needed to care for Keith so extensively since he has been ill. Also Jim is back home at the moment and needs some TLC, and likes to talk things through with me.

For someone who reckons they're not very emotional, its all a bit near the bone...

Hey ho

My Shuffleathon CD

http://www.threelightsnews.com/blog/?p=402

I think he likes it - hurray!!

SwissToni's CD Shuffleathon...

My CD arrived in the post today from Adem. Its great when a plan comes together - thank you SwissToni!!

Anyway Keith and I listened to it when we got home after a walk and a couple of pints - and here's the verdict from the West Bridgford jury:

1) Stevie Wonder - Living for the City: One of my favourite tracks by one of my favourite artists 10/10

2) Guns N'Roses - Welcome to the jungle: Sorry Adem but I thought it was crap 0/10

3) Athlete - Vehicles and Animals: Fairly dirgelike - not my favourite genre but some redeeming features 5/10

4) Nirvana - Love Buzz: Great guitar work, great animalistic buzz to it 8/10

5) Air - All I need :Already a fan, not a track I know but loved it 9/10

6) Doves - Break Me Gently: familiar with some of their stuff but this is a really nice track, again great guitar work 8/10

7) Aimee Mann - Wise Up: An artist I've meant to catch up with for some time, a good friend of mine played with her for a while, great choice Adem 8/10

8) Johnny Cash - Hurt: Brilliant. Jim introduced me to this track10/10

9) Turin Brakes - Underdog (Save Me): Lovely, jingly jangly guitars are my fave 9/10

10) Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade out): Thought I'd hate it, see Athlete re dirgelike stuff, actually a really good track 7/10

11) Blur - End of a Century; Seminal bit of BritPop, OK but doesn't move me 6/10

12) The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony: A classic, lovely track, I see that video of Richard Ashcroft walking down the street in my head whenever I hear it 9/10

Overall verdict (statistically speaking) 7.5/10 - some great tracks, drop Guns N'Roses and its a real cracker IMHO

Left brain / right brain - thank you Maria!

Right Brain
22%

Left Brain
70%
*results won't usually add up to 100% as this test measures each side separately

Left brain dominant individuals are more orderly, literal, articulate, and to the point. They are good at understanding directions and anything that is explicit and logical. They can have trouble comprehending emotions and abstract concepts, they can feel lost when things are not clear, doubting anything that is not stated and proven.
Right brain dominant individuals are more visual and intuitive. They are better at summarizing multiple points, picking up on what's not said, visualizing things, and making things up. They can lack attention to detail, directness, organization, and the ability to explain their ideas verbally, leaving them unable to communicate effectively.
Overall you appear to be Left Brain Dominant
-----------------------------------------
According to Darwinian theory, optimal evolution takes place with random variation and selective retention. The evolution savvy individual will try many different approaches when faced with a problem and select the best of those approaches. Many historical intellectuals have confessed their advantage was simply considering/exploring/trying more approaches than others. The left brain dominant type suffers from limited approaches, narrow-mindedness. The right brain dominant type suffers from too many approaches, scatterbrained. To maintain balanced hemispheres, you need to exercise both variability and selection. Just as a company will have more chance of finding a great candidate by increasing their applicant pool, an individual who considers a wider set of options is more likely to make quality decisions.

Forgive me father it's been six weeks since my last blog...

Its not that I haven't had anything to write about - just real life intervening. So a mini-update is in order.

Keith is still ill unfortunately, albeit brighter than he was although still very anxious. He's been away from work for 6 months now which is quite a long time. He finds it hard spending a lot of time by himself - we try to get out for walks and see friends as much as we can. Jim is back from University in York on Saturday, which is good. Lizzy is much better and is back at work three days a week. Arthur Lee has been having chemotherapy and stem cell therapy and according to all reports is much better. And I'm finding work OK and am moving in a new direction there, which i find very interesting.

More later.

Jungian personality type

This is me allegedly - recognise me anyone??

Sounds a bit boring but probably a large element of truth.

ISTJ - "Trustee". Decisiveness in practical affairs. Guardian of time- honored institutions. Dependable. 11.6% of total population.

Introverted (I) 60.61% Extroverted (E) 39.39% Sensing (S) 58.97% Intuitive (N) 41.03%Thinking (T) 72.73% Feeling (F) 27.27% Judging (J) 70.59% Perceiving (P) 29.41%

responsible, planner, private, loner tendencies, perfectionist, organized, detail oriented, organized, would rather be friendless than jobless, realistic, observer, clean, focused, does not talk about feelings, finisher, punctual, private, does not appreciate strangeness, not adventurous, not spontaneous, follows the rules, dutiful, avoids mistakes, conventional, likes solitude, insensitive to the hardships of others, prepared, anti-tattoos, things rules are important, cautious, security seeking, prepares for worst case scenarios, logical, analytical, does not accept apologies easily, hard working

favored careers:
data analyst, scientist, researcher, engineer, financial planner, statistician, office worker, government employee, lab technician, nuclear engineer, office manager, biomedical engineer, account manager, ceo, investment banker, analyst, academic, systems analyst, pharmacy technician, network admin, genetics researcher, research assistant, strategist

disfavored careers:
entertainer, artist, filmmaker, musician, actor, fashion desinger, singer, music journalist, comedian, massage therapist, photographer, dj, model, author, bartender, painter, school counselor



As the Who so ably sang in "Substitute", at least you get your washing done.....

---and they were right about the anti-tattoos - absolutely hate em! I hope that I'm not overly insensitive to the hardship of others however.

Hey ho

This is the bad news I was talking about..

Arthur Lee from Love has recently been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and has undergone 3 weeks of aggressive chemotherapy. Doctors are hopeful for a full recovery, but Arthur still faces more chemo, extensive hospital stays, and a possible bone marrow transplant. Arthur Lee has no health insurance to cover his growing (over $100,000+) medical bills. Arthur Lee (Love) is a man larger than life. A flamboyant artist with a trail of myth and mythology that follows him like a purple feathered boa. His band Love was the first rock band signed to Electra, and Arthur is responsible for talking Jac Holtzman into signing the Doors. Before all this, in 1964, Arthur gave his friend, an unknown Jimi Hendrix, his first appearance on record (the Arthur penned My Diary, by Rosa Lee Brooks). Love's third recording, "Forever Changes", is still widely considered to be one of the great rock n roll discs of all time. Love were true artists, but not "careerist". They preferred living together in "the castle" near Griffith Park, to life on the road. Arthur even turned down invitations to perform at the Monterrey Pop Festival and Woodstock. In the 90's Arthur spent eight years behind bars for "allegedly" shooting off a gun in his apartment. When he was released, he wasted no time getting back to the road and his music. During the past four years, Arthur has performed "Forever Changes" to sold out audiences and fantastic reviews throughout Europe and the United States, backed by the local group Baby Lemonade, and a string and horn section. Just when he thought his bad times were finally over, he learned he was sick. To help cover his medical expenses, Spaceland Productions, Bruce Solar from The Agency Group, and Mark Linn from Delmore Recording Society are producing a benefit concert / tribute for Arthur. We would like to extend a warm invitation to those bands and performers who want to be part of this benefit to honor one of the greatest singer / songwriters of our time. The concert will be held in late May / early June; we are looking at venues of all sizes: The Avalon, El Rey, Disney Hall, or Greek Theatre with the line up determining the location. Artists we are currently speaking with include X, Calexico, and Cake. We are looking for artists to perform a few of Arthur's songs that capture the spirit and magic of Arthur Lee & Love. All proceeds will go to Arthur's medical expenses. For further information please contact: Mitchell Frank or Liz Garo: 323 662 7728Bruce Solar: 310 385 2800Mark Linn: 615 480 6923Thank you.

Have just edited this as I've heard that some of it wasn't true - maybe we'll never know the truth

Peace and Love

Tina xx

Its been a long time coming, but a change is gonna come...

Heard some real bad news yesterday, sworn to secrecy so can't repeat it.

But strangely the news has made me think of new prospects, perhaps a whole change of life. Doors opening.

Lets wait and see how things develop. It may mean a bit of risk taking. But I think I'm ready for it. In fact I've already done some preparation.

After all, my new philosophy is "live each day as if its your last, life's too short".

Desert Island Discs

Lisa Rullsenberg has been doing these recently - very quick sub-conscious stuff (i.e.don't think about it too much) gave me this list:

1) The Beatles – In my life
2) Marvin Gaye – Heard it through the Grapevine
3) Madonna – Borderline
4) Love – Aloneagainor
5) McFadden & Whitehead – Ain’t no stopping us now
6) Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band – Click Clack
7) Aretha Franklin – Respect
8) Buffalo Springfield – Love the one you’re with

Hey that one will do for now - may come back and change it later

Love Tina xxx

Buddha in the snow...at the bottom of our garden

The Arctic Monkeys

I have decided that I love the Arctic Monkeys. I drive around in my car listening to their new album (purchased by myself and 359,999 other people last week) banging my head like crazy and singing along like a lunatic.

Why do I love them so??

1) They sound (and are) Young and Northern, both conditions that I myself once was

Young in that the music is simple and vital. Definitely, unmistakenly Northern - the lead singer Alex has brilliant intonation, I love songs where you can clearly hear the lyrics.

2) The aforesaid lyrics

Done to death in the papers, but I still laugh out loud when I hear (clearly enunciated) lines like

" It proves that love's not just blind but deaf"

" You know your problem, you're not from New York City you're from Rotherham"

3) The sheer energy and fun of it all

I caught a bit of a gig televised on MTV - fantastic! Somewhere like the Leadmill in Sheffield, a scuzzy club where I've spent a few fun packed evenings myself, and they all (band and audience alike) look like they're having a fookin' great time!

Don't over intellectuallise it, its only rock and roll and I like it!!

Chameleonitis

Read this great article in the Guardian at the weekend - and I suddenly realised why I feel like I've been having a problem with my working life lately - I'm a yellowish / bluish (green maybe??) sort of person and I currently work in a red organisation. They like to pretend they're not red - all the corporate mumbo jumbo on the intranet site is yellowy nicey nicey we love you all sort of bollocks - but in reality its red through and though.

Hah

I'd already decided a while back to my ownself to be true, and worry less about stuff like the dress code (current look slightly aging hippy, mainly in the hair and jewellery areas - still have to wear a suit!!) and doing the huge number of client meetings my contract says I should do each week. Either they haven't caught on yet or it was a bit of a paper tiger anyway.

The other thing is a number of decent people in other offices have resigned recently - more money / less pressure elsewhere - so perhaps they really are keen to hang on to me. My manager, who is a decent sort, tells me that anyway - on my good days I believe her, on my bad days I think she's just saying that because we get on well together and I am the only female Private Banker in the office, also the only one not in the 35 - 40 age bracket. Talk about diversity - I'm it!!

I've always resisted giving the name of my employer in my blog, mainly because I don't want people googling for C***ts and finding me - needless to say they are pretty much a household name, creme de la creme of the financial world, "Superbrand" status etc etc - and there are lots and lots of good things about them..

..but in the last resort they're still a bank.

Ay Up - I'm a Nottingham blog of note...

...according to Troubled Diva, so I'd better post something halfway sensible!!

Life is still strange at the moment - loved ones are still ill, friends still have various ailments...

My description of it has been "limbo" to a number of people - if I was a religious type I'd have a better idea of what that actually meant, something in the back of my mind tells me its the place between heaven and hell, the place you go when you die if God can't decide if you're naughty or nice. A bit like that TV programme I've just been watching "Life on Mars" (love the music!) - where the guy wakes up in 1973 - is he dead / in a coma or has he been transported back in time?? Perhaps I got run over in 2036 and have been transported back in time - mind you I'll be 82 then if I'm still alive, so I guess I would be crossing roads pretty carefully - that is if there's any oil left by then and there's still such a thing as traffic.

Hey ho

1974 me...

...and a nice picture of Lizzy without hair

A nice pic of Lizzy with hair (also Scottish Keith and Chris)

Blogging as therapy

I read in a blog recently (can't remember which) that a large proportion of bloggers found the whole process very therapeutic - certainly early last year when things were really getting me down, setting out all of the details of Lizzy and my adventures with Love helped me to put a number of things in perspective. I haven't been doing a lot of updating on this blog lately, but maybe I should - I certainly feel like I could do with therapy of some sort!

So...

Some facts about my life at present:

1) Work on the whole is going well again, I'm for the most part enjoying it again lately. One or two problems though of which more later.

2) Keith is really quite unwell with anxiety and depression. He was suffering throughout the term leading up to Christmas - at the start of the school Christmas holidays he went to the doctor, who put him on Prozac which initally made him much worse. He's since been back to the doctors, is now taking diazepam as well which has the effect of knocking him out, but is now less anxious and fortunately is sleeping a lot better. He's been signed off work for 6 weeks. I am trying to be as supportive as I can, and to be there as much as I can for him, and he is very appreciative of this.

3) Lizzy has practically finished her chemotherapy treatment for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and things seem to be going well. She hasn't officially had the all clear but has had various scans etc and has been told that the tumours are clear. Hooray!!

4) A number of our friends are ill at the moment. There are two cases of shingles, two cases of anxiety and depression apart from Keith, and another case of cancer apart from Lizzy. Is it our age?? I've never known a time before when so many of my contemporaries have been seriously ill. Fortunately I'm not affected, apart from suffering from mild depression earlier in the year, but the whole thing is very concerning.

5) One of the support staff at work is having a very hard time at the moment. It seems to me like a classic case of stress, but they don't seem to want to accept this - its everyone else not themself - and its getting me down and annoying / upsetting a number of other people. I've tried to do something about it, not very successfully, and quite frankly the whole situation is pissing me off. I could do with work being calm and ordered so I can have a real stab at having a successful 2006 instead of the debacle that was 2005 for me workwise. 2005 was filled with other people that I care about's personal problems as well - I have been trying and largely succeeeding in developing a sympathetic persona - not always my strongpoint in the past - but my colleague and their problems has not touched a nerve. I suppose in my view the things I've seen other people go through last year were just so much worse. Hey ho.

Well thats a little bit of unloading. The Doctor is In.

Happy Christmas to all my readers

Greetings from the Winter family - Jim, Tina and Keith at the top of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh.

Goodwill to all men (and women and children and cats) - we love you all!!

Fantastic Egyptian stuff from the Louvre

Le Tour Eiffel

More Paris pictures

Nous allons a Paris!

Proof if proof is needed that Keith and I paid a fleeting visit to Paris last weekend. We did a lightning tour of the Louvre, particularly the Egyptian collection which was amazing - I'll try to put some more pics of that on here later. Also saw the Arc de Triomphe (see above), the Tour d'Eiffel, the Quartier Latin and Notre Dame. The city has a lovely atmosphere and one of the high spots was just looking at the food shops and market stalls - bringing the perennial cry "Why can't they do stuff like this in England??".

Impressed myself by managing to be reasonably comprehensible in French (GCE O level Grade 3, 1970) - but then it was mainly buying stuff in shops and restaurants, and its in shopkeepers interest to make sure they can take your euros off you I suppose. Nevertheless, it made me feel good.