***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/
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
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.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
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
‘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
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Sunday, September 17, 2006
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.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
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.
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.
Monday, August 28, 2006
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.
Most people fall somewhere in the middle, but there's a significant minority at either extreme.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
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.
England is certainly a green and pleasant land looking at this.Our garden is quite long and we have lots of trees.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
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.....
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.....
Friday, August 04, 2006
Sunday, July 16, 2006
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.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
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...
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...
Friday, July 14, 2006
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
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
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
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
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
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
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.
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.
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.
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