Crivens!A trip to the bathroom scales was quite a sobering experience this weekend. Hardly surprising though, considering my lack of physical activity since stopping fitting fireplaces.
So, I'm eating healthy. And in a new weblog feature, I'll be showing you really healthy food and telling how much weight I'm losing, and how I'm getting even sexier. Or something.
So the bycle's been dusted off too, and for the first time this year I cycled round the park. Here's the bandstand look.
And here's a squirrel, and once again I'd forgotten to take nuts and bread for the ducks a squirrels, so this fellow had to go away disappointed.
I'm quite lucky to live so close to such a splendid park. And it's looking better than ever this year! The bandstand is painted and shiny, the flowers and grass are looked after and there was even a load of massive goldfish in the boating pool. (West Park has two pools, one for boating, one for ducks).
I cycled round for an hour, listened to Mat Monro and Nick Drake on my ipod, sat on a bench or two, enjoyed Monday, which is quite a thing!
But it's still Wolverhampton, and there was a gang of urchins drinking special brew in a shelter, somewhat spoiling the quite leafy tranquility of that particular part of the park. Once I was there helping with a 'special needs' day-trip to the park, and we sat in the shelter there until we saw the used needles on the floor.Never mind.
Outside the tea house a young kid was feeding a squirrel, his hand outstretched, face all eager, Grandad watching and smiling, it would have made a great photo, but I didn't take my camera out because it's these days and you don't do things like that.
Then after I wished I had, because if you can't take a nice photo of a kid and his grandad feeding a bloody squirrel in the park then what's the world coming to and all that!
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And just to show it's not all flowers and swans and skipping picking dasies, I saw Julian Cope last night at The Sugarmill in Stoke and he was great!Some more snaps here
http://www.suaveharv.com/csm.htm
7 comments:
So is there more to Nick Drake than a few songs, a tragic death and hype?
I don't think I've ever heard any hype about Drake, as such. Hype is something I'd expect from record companies about new signings etc. . all I've heard about Drake is high praise from fans and performers.
But he was very very good at what he did.
I've played Nick Drake more than any other artist in the last year. . but I don't know if his style would suit everybody.
I think he's amazing. But you might just hear a dirge; you've never heard any Nick Drake?
Ive heard of him but only because the Times had an article about him some time ago.
Got just 4 of his songs to get an idea of what he's like.
Good but not wow, hence the hype question.
It's not 'immediate' music. It's not poppy or very comercial, must people think of it as folk, but I hear a lot of jazz in there too, chord and rhythmn-wise.
But it's the beauty of the melodies and his fantastic guitar playing, not to mention the poetry of his lyrics. If you were to have another go, I'd suggest listening to these.
Three Hours
The Chime Of The City Clock
Poor Boy
River Man
Day Is Done
He made three albums only, and they are all pretty much perfect.
Funny, I didn't think 'wow' when I first heard Drake. I just thought "oh, this is quality music, I'll listen to some more".
There's stacks of stuff that's praised highly I just don't get. Astral Weeks is one album, and I've never thought Pet Sounds to be that fantastic either!
I ll look up the songs.
Just saw that another album is meant to be coming out in June, so I guess that will be a treat for you.
So you were listening to Matt Monro on your i-Pod!
When you were just a wee lad your idol and mine, Jerry Lee, met Matt Monro in the all-night coffee shop at the Picadilly Hotel in Manchester. Matt Monro was there with with Norman "Swinging" Vaughan the comedian. When they came in they immediately recognised Jerry and, old pro that he was, Norman Vaughan, said to Jerry "You are not here for the Grades this time are you".
This reference to the name of the promoters of the 1958 tour that was not lost on Jerry who told them "man, I had to pay them back a lot of money when they cancellen on me - money that I had already spent!"
I told Jerry that they were both well known in British show business and that Mr Monro has sung "From Russia with Love". Of course Jerry is a real film buff and sang a little bit of it to the astonishment of the two Brits.
Great story. Wish I'd been there!
I've got a lot of time for Monroe. He was a bus driver before he got famous I think?
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