So Glad and English As Tuppence

That people are enjoying my blue sky pictures, it's always nice when you do things that people like. Today we've had more gorgeous blue skies. I've been out for a couple of walks and yesterday mowed the lawn for the first time this yeatr and the garden is looking fine after the winter.

I'd ordered some Aftercut from Amazon and Yodel delivered in a huge box on Saturday, so we shall see how that performs. I need to change the bird feeders as the plastic perspex ones don't seem to do for the birds here, so I'm going to pick up a couple of wire ones and hopefully the birds will enjoy that.

The Local Church

I'm listening to Radio 6 and an advertisement came on for a program called "English As Tuppence" about Vivian Stanshall singer with the Bonzo Dog Band, presented by their musical leader Neil Innes. You can listen here for the next week, though it is three hours long. Now this would be ideal to listen to on the way to work but as you can get a consistent signal between Newcastle and Darlington and they don't let you download radio broadcasts I'll just listen at home.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, I certainly will do

Kate Bush, Matt Haig, Jon Evans, Books and Why You Should Go OVO

I have a date for collecting my books for World Book Night on the 23rd of April. The book I have chosen is Matt Haig's The Humans so I need to get myself a copy fairly rapidly as April is nearly hear. However, many years ago Waterstones had a promotion called "Try Me For 99p" where you could pick up a number of loss leader books for 99p. One of these was The Blood Price by Jon Evans whicj, although not my usual sort of read, is a rivetting , exciting page turner which I would recommend to anyone, although I suppose I can draw certain vague parrallels with what happens in the book. Anyway that's the literary bit.

I've also nearly completed my power switch to Ovo Energy, after being with E-On for years (and having a fixed price deal). The thing that turned me on to them was that when the Big Six said they had to raise prices because wholesale prices were going up, MD Stephen Fitzpatrick implied they were being economical with the truth as he hadn't seen any price rises for two years. Articles here and here . The guy deserves respect and to be quite honest iof you're looking for a switch just go OVO. Their website is here

Oh and the wonderful Kate Bush has announced fifteen dates in London in August, her first since 1979, which will be amazing but the tickets probably sold out last year, full details here . Kate is one of my favourite artists who has manged to just do what she wants on her terms. Her albums are always a pleasure but The Hounds Of Love is still my favourite.

So that's more positives and hope I've given you some food for thought if you are in the UK and thinking about a power switch.

Blue Skies and Sunshine

Blue Skies Over Fenham

To Be Mown

Woke up this morning to blue skies, sunshine and the realisation that lawn mowing may have to start soon, although it is almost the end of March. So really there's no getting away with it. I'm awaiting a delivery of Aftercut that cam via Yodel on Wednesday when I was at work. I was expecting another run in with the delivery company as they only deliver Monday to Friday 9-5 (what sort of time is that to deliver large items to home address/ Anyway, went on their web site and they now deliver on Saturdays, which is good, so I'm expecting delivery of that today, so another thing to brighten up my weekend.

Sunrise in the Back Garden

It's ages since I used my camera to take pictures as I now tend to use my Samsung Note, but have had the camera out this morning and it's good to get to use the optical zoom. It's a five year old Canon Powershot but is compact and easy to use. It may be superseded by my next phone and phone manufacturers have gone for the huge megapixels that allow lossless zooming of pictures negating the the need for an optical zoom for the sort of photographs I take.






Anyway everyone have an absolutely wonderful weekend, I intend to, and if you are in the North East then it's a brilliant day weather wise, and if you are elsewhere in the world you are probably have good weather anyway. Enjoy every moment.

Being Positive Is Good For You

View From A Drone

I saw a lovely picture of a gathering on a school field, apparently taken by a drone and it got me thinking, I remember when getting a aerial picture was a luxury item, and soon we'll all be able to take aerial pictures of your house ore whatever. Google Earth and Streetview give us a lot of that already. And this reminded me of one of the most inspirational TED Talks about Henry Evans who is quadroplegic but uses drones to inspect his vineyards and the roof of his property.
I was shocked by how much this guy can get out of his life using robots and drones, and I think it's a lesson to us all, that life generally is improving. There is still a lot wrong in the world but there are people who are slowly showing us how we can get things right.

Also if you search TED you can see that there are a lot more beneficial applications of drone technology. Soget inspired, it may be from a friend or someone you don't know, it maybe from someone next to you or on the other side of the world, but you will feel better for it. Inspiration comes from many sources and places. So again be inspired and have a wonderful day. Oh and if you are doing the #nomakeup selfie for #breastcancerawareness , smile , really that is the only make up you need. Smile please

Share and Be Positive

Woke up from some dream and there was something in it on how good life can be when you are positive and smiling and share things with others. That thing you share may be your smile, good news, knowledge or something you think people will will like. And it gives you a lift when you give things and people take things and then later do the same thing to you.

Building relationships like that means that people can be there when things maybe aren't has good for you, and they will know that you are probably there to help them as well.

I've not done any posts about happiness and positivity recently , but it is something that we should always maintain in our lives otherwise we will basically be miserable. I always look for the good, the positives in situations , as it's so easy to find faults. Remember faults are there to be dealt with , while good things are there to be savoured and enjoyed.

Key looking for the good, share and open up with people, and I hope sunshine fills your day.

Oh by the way, and example of this is that on Sunday I started using Runkeeper. Two of my good friends at work Neil and Lee said Endomondo was better as it was more configurable, and they use it on a daily basis, so it's only a small thing but it shows they think about me and it makes you feel more connected.

Have a great day. And I think "Love It When You Call" by The Feeling is a fantastic upbeat song which always makes me happy, and I love it when my friends call.

Some Positives

I know I haven't been too positive on my posts and have been ignoring certain things. So I got the Nintendo WII out and did the Tennis and Boxing , before finding it was seventy four days since I last used thing. I'm just a pound lighter so the good news is I haven't put on weight. It's too easy to put things away and just forget about them and we should never do that , I am atrocious for doing it.

The second thing was installing RunKeeper on my phone. This product looks like it actually works. I have no intention of taking up running, but walked about a mile and burnt 130 calories according to the app.

I included the Chariots of Fire  opening , because it's one of the most archetypially English musical pieces , obviously composed by a a Greek (Vangelis) , and also one of the lads on the beach was a trainee for me when I was at Littlewoods back in the day.

Anyway enjoy what's left of the weekend, another week awaits ...

Coincidences and Connections

Last night I watched three unrelated programs bar the fact that they were BBC programs. Line of Duty was the first and I've been following this amazing series since the start, not for the squeamish and with plot twists to to tie your brain in several knots. It is police and crime with Dennis Wise look a like Martin Compston one of it's many star turns.

Next up was Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History concentrating on the destruction of the Spanish Armada on the Irish and Scottish Coasts, and how the survivors became integrated into to the local communities.

Next up was Shetland , currently on season 2 but something I noticed , based on the Raven Black books by Ann Cleeves. First up was the fact that the main detective is DI Jimmy Perez (the Armada connection) played by Douglas Henshall, next coincidence was that Mark Bonnar who plays DCC Mike Dryden in Line of Duty plays Duncan Hunter in Shetland.

Then, and she didn't know I was writing this, Fiona told me that Ann Cleeves was actual one of the protagonists of Peter Jackson's film "Heavenly Creatures" , so that was unexpected. There is an article here. Though that was fairly difficult to track down.

So an amazing number of coincidences and connections in a very small number of items this weekend. It's amazing how easily things can spread out and become connected. The seven degress of Kevin Bacon is probably true , but for obvious reasons I'd rather not co there, despite the fact he was in one of my favourite films Tremors.

Rename The Post Office Tower "The Tony Benn Tower"

Tony Benn and a few of his achievements

Saddened yesterday at the news on Tony Benn's passing, one of the only politicians you could trust, who actually wanted to make the world a better place , not just line his own pockets. Almost everyone will have more things to say about him, and I couldn't do him justice , so just search the net , read some books about him and learn some lessons from his vision. I was shocked at work as no one seemed to know who he was , my own daughters (admittedly in their thirties know who he was and why he was important. It is just sad that they place more importance on X-Factor or Big Brother than people like Tony Benn (admittedly there aren't that many.

This post was only going to have a fleeting mention of the man, but it says something that this has spilled over into more that a couple of words. A lot of people will be unaware of the technical revolutions in communications and other walks of like that he helped kick start. One little thing is the commercialisation of stamp design , he was a prime mover behind the Post Office Tower in London, maybe they should rename it the Tony Benn Tower, and also behind Concorde and Radio 1! See here.

We should start a campaign to get the Post Office Tower renamed the Tony Benn tower.

A brilliant man , a brilliant mind , and an incredible loss.

Oh and here are ten of his greatest quotes.

How Does This Happen?

You wake at 5am, and are wide awake, not sleepy at all, bed is suddenly so comfortable you don't want to leave, but you have to get up. You're not really getting any benefit because you know you have to get up , so eventually you succumb and get out of bed, get washed , shower , perform ablutions and it's still half an hour before you leave for work.

Then it kicks in, you are so sleepy and want to go back to bed, yawning , and so tempted to get back into bed. Radio 6 keep playing Queen snippets,  but I'm sure that couldn't be anything to do with it , could it.

Thought of the Cure song to go with this though I suppose I could have had Queen , but I like The Cure better.

Hope you all have a good day.

How Bad Were The Eighties Really?

I've just finished Danny Baker's series of shows on the seventies , eighties and nineties and the eighties usually come in for extremely harsh treatment due to New Romantics and A Flock of Seagulls hair styles. But Baker's show opened with The Clash playing Should I Stay or Should I Go at Shea Stadium , New York. The program was only half an hour long and while Prefab Sprout and The Pretenders are not exactly my cup of tea (although when both bands are good they are very very good and Prefab Sprout's last album is an absolute beauty) , the quality of the music never faltered , finding space for Ivor Cutler's Shoplifters before having the great man introduce The Smiths Boy With The Thorn In His Side. The show closed with New Order playing The Hacienda.


This post seemed to be getting fairly monoparagraphic so I thought I'd insert a break.

Incidentally a friend from Facebook had mentioned the Fall's I Am Curious Oranj in various  orange related posts last week, and then Danny Baker played Big New Prinz in situ with the dancers / ballet for which the music was commissioned.


When you add bands like The Cure , Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus  you have to admit there were a lot of great bands round in the eighties. As I've said before 95% is always rubbish , it's up to you to track down the good stuff. I've probably mentioned more bands in this post than any other previous post but there is a lot of great music round all the time, find and enjoy.

Back Now

And off to work soon. I've spent the weekend driving back and resting and not really doing much bar watching some catch up TV such as the brilliant Elementary, Blacklist and Arrow and the truly atrocious Hostages (good idea for a film not a TV series but although it's not been recommissioned it'll be a staple of daytime TV in future ). I am watching Hostages just to see how bad it can get, apparently based on an Israeli TV series, like the excellent Homeland, which went off the rails after the first series but still kept your interested to due to excellent scripting and compelling characters.

Also noticed in the proliferation of betting shops a "Set Your Limits" campaign. Don't they realise that anyone addicted to slot machines, daily lotteries , or the proliferation of betting options will not do that , the only people who will are those in complete control. Then you add the facts that William Hill are looking to open shops 24/7 because slots and electronic casinos are open 24/7 , then combine this with one staff member per shop, and Paddy Power  taking bets and joking about the Oscar Pistorius , see this Guardian article, and it shows that they are only interested in one thing.

Tonight I have a meeting at my local practice' patient forum (details here) so am going to away from the house for 13 hours again today , but it's good to be involved with these things and you can't complain about things if you don't get yourself involved.

Anyway I know that this is not my normal sort of blog post, and I apologise, but when I get home tonight hopefully I can post something more positive and uplifting. Still enjoy your day, I know I will.

Friday Feeling

Well it's Friday and it's the last day of the holiday , but has been a great week.I found out the guy who runs the farm we are staying at restores vintage cars for a hobby so hopefully I'll get some photos of those before I leave. The weather has been mostly excellent and is very sunny again today.

It's almost eleven o' clock and I've still not switched on my phone , which I have used quite a lot as a camera. It's amazing now how mobile phones are replacing cameras and music players because they are capable of doing all these things.

Add that to Instagram and Facebook and you can be completely connected and let everyone know everything you are doing but whether that's a good thing I'm not to sure.

I've just seen a black ladybird with red spots , apparently seeing a ladybird is lucky, so who knows what may happen , but there's always something good so I know that will come true one way or another.

Although it's Friday the song "Saturday Gigs" by Mott The Hoople is playing round in my mind so I'm going to include that, ain'y Youtube useful?

Anyway I'm going to enjoy the rest of the day and hope that you do too.

Worcester Records, The Good and The Bad

The Rise Vinyl Racks

Well the bad news from Worcester is that Mann Audio and Phoenix are no more, or as far as my experience goes , never were. However the good news is that the Rise Records go from strength to strength , with a lot on offer in a small shop, and I ended up buying some books (well it is World Book Day today, though as far schools are concerned it's Dressing Up Day) , was talking to the guy in the shop who was very knowledgeable and let me take pictures and told about the record shops that had gone , but there was a great second hand shop called Market Hall Records.

While I was in there, there was something playing that made me think of The Cure and Joy Division , and turned out to be the Eagulls , so that went onto the purchase list as well, whuch can be seen on my Instagram Feed.

Market Hall Records

Market Hall Records has a big selection of stuff and the guy is really good to talk to, if you go to their website you can find out where they are, and they are sensible enough to use the web as just an advertising hoarding, which is a fine low maintenance approach. I also picked up a Julian Cope disc called Ambulance.

So all in all a successful day, Worcester has two excellent record shops (HMV doesnt count although they have one), so it's a good place if you want to improve your music collection and expand your horizons. I'd never heard The Eagulls before today but thatnks to the visit to Rise I now have their album and thingk that you might like them too.

I could post a video, but there are pictures and links so I will leave you to find the stuff. That's part of the fun of the internet , you can lose yourself for hours looking for stuff you didn't know that you wanted.

Worcester Records

A short post. Today i will be visiting Worcester which according to The Vinyl District has three record shops. I know the excellent Rise which has a few shops in the South West, but there are two more Phoenix and Mann Audio but the web searches don't look too hopeful for these two.

Anyway no doubt I will have something to report later

A Purple Bit

Hendrix and Zappa

Yesterday when I was in Stratford I looked at The Vinyl Disctrict app on my Samsung and it came up with Purple Vinyl. HMV is long gone so in Stratford the only source of getting ohold of music is the charity shops. The thing is there were a lot of tourists there, but obviously not enough to support a record shop.

Purple Vinyl Sign

Anyway I found Purple Vinyl close to Shakespeare's birthplace, and they have a Facebook presence here.  The Stratford shop had a lot of Zappa, Hendrix and Pink Floyd stuff nicely displayed and I spoke to the proprietor who told me they were essentially an online operator (check them out here)

I can't remember the guy's name but he was really nice to talk to, and though I didn't buy anything, I'd recommend going along just to see what they have out , or smapling their online selection.

I saw a 99p Jimi Hendrix BackTrack compilation which they were selling for £30, and was almost tempted as I had had it my original record collection. I now only my vinyl as artefacts rather than to play, and they still feel substantial compared to CD or the ephemera of MP3.

Given the amount of Hendrix they had on display and their name, there can only be one song can't there?

Anyway it's good to see a record shop in Stratford and hope they live long and prosper.

Have a pleasant evening everyone.

Periodic Moan

I try to keep things posutive on this blog but sometimes you have to let it out when things annoy you. Sometimes they are not really all that much of a problem, but let's face it 90% of the world prefers having something to moan about rather than having good things happen to them. It may be contributory to the state of the world at the moment.

Last night I went to see Wolf Hall based on the Hilary Mantel book at the Swan Theatre / RSC in Stratford. I cannot recommend this highly enough to anyone. I haven't read the books but the play is well paced , easy to understand, and a sparsely visual treat.

Firstly , I know that students are in the process of learning but there were about ten who didn't understand the relevance of seat numbers at a sold out seated event. I find the same on local buses where studens try to congregate on the footplate of the bus despite the rest of the bus being empty which results in the driver whizzing past stops because they thing the bus must be full, when all they have is about ten students.

Worse that that is the numpty suit who replaced them, then continued texting at every opportunity with his screen on full brightness. He was probably an iPhone owner and needed to let everybody know he had his iPhone at an important play. I was tempted to borrow one of actors weapons and "get biblical on his ass".

Then the Vauxhall Astra I haveon hire this week, despite being a two door model, is too long for many parking spaces. I was wondering why parking was a little awkward, but it is easy to drive and looks like a white Batmobile.

Also I've finally started Breaking Bad and love the use of Periodic Table entries in the credits. It is a truly brilliant program. So this week there's been loads of great things happening and to experience with a few niggles, and really the message is treasure the good things and ignore and forget the bad stuff.

A Feast For The Eyes and Ears

Today is bright but cold and also means a trip to Stratford to see Wolf Hall at the RSC followed by Bring Up The Bodies on Wednesday, based on the best selling award winning books by Hilary Mantel. Last timewe were at the RSC we saw an excellent production of the Tempest, my favourite Shakespeare play, and was very impressed as the place was comfortable, and the air conditioning was excellent throughout the play, meaning you can actually watch and enjoy the play without the fear of falling asleep. Too many theatres just get warmer and warmer throughout the performance , so I would recommend the RSC.

Also started watching Breaking Bad this week as well as continuing with Boardwalk Empire (which I borrowed off a very good friend several months back) , so this week is going to involve a lot of watching stuff either live or on TV. I'm including the full movie The Tempest by Julie Taymor (as long as it stays on youtube) who incidentally gave a brilliant TED Talk which I've included below. So lots for me to watch and lots for you to watch. Have a great day.

Here Comes The Rain ... and Batman

Esconced in the cottage in Upton Snodsbury and the rain is coming down, although today was forecast as a bad day. Still getting used to the car with is a Vauxhall Astra that seems to me, modelled on the Batmobile, but I'm getting the hang of the damned thing. For the Batman connection I've include my favourite Batman related theme from Siouxsie and The Banshees.

Reminds me of a recent tweet:

My boss told me "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have" Am now sat in a disciplinary meeting wearing my Batman costume.

Which amused me quite a lot.......

Tomorrow will be in Stratford with hopefully better weather. AThere's just been a Skoda advert on the TV and I've just noticed how similar the Vauxhall and Skoda logos actually are, anyway I'm going to continue relaxing and enjoying my holiday. I hope you all have had a great weekend are are looking forward to a most excellent week.

Marching On ... and The Omens Are Good

Just a quick post before a five hour drive, I will maybe do a post when I get there. Been watching some amazing TV like Elementary and Line Of Duty , and ready for a week of being able to lie in and get a decent amout of rest while doing interesting things.

Also the radio is excellent this morning on both Radio 2 and Radio 6 

The weather is good here and in Upton Snodsbury so the omens are good.

And I thought I'd include one of my favourite videos for your delectation.... the wonderful KLF

So Shattered ....and Oasis

Last night was in bed at 7:30. I just dropped into bed I was so tired, I obviously need a holiday (which will start with a five hour drive tomorrow). Anyway I am awake now and discovered a cover of The Beatles "Birthday" by Oasis on Youtube. I'm surprised that Oasis didn't cover more Beatle's songs , well I suppose they did but just changed the words and titles and put Gallagher on the songwriting credits .... allegedly. Just a joke. Oasis have done some excellent stuff , though my mavourites are Champagne Supernova, Step Out (a Stevie Wonder lift for a change) and Acquiesce.

Still feeling tired , but it's my last day for a week, so I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Twenty Minutes Late

Car Parked Outside The Cottage

It's amazing how an extra five minutes in bed can make you twenty minutes late. This means that this post will be extra extra short.

Also when you are writing you often get onto a roll and before you know where you are there goes another twenty minutes.

I still have to do my voice only post, but will do that in Shropshire I think, with trips to Stradford planned and lots of quiet walks I hope.

This is where I will be staying , and it's usually fairly quiet so signing off as it's time to leave for work now. Have a great day everyone!

Another Morning

The days are getting lighter and yesterday we had sun and blue skies. We're still in February but March is here on Saturday when I start a week's holiday , not a moment too soon. I am looking forward to not doing my normal 11 to 12 hours away from home day thanks to the current work regime.

I am very happy to have been chosen as a World Book Night giver again and looking forward to that on 23rd of April. I have some ideas on how I will be giving away my 18 copies of Matt Haig's The Humans. I've ordered my own copy as I need to have it read by April 23rd , I like to be able to tell people about the book.

Just listening to Chris Hawkins on 6 Music and he's playing Royals by Lords,  then followed it by Blue Moon by Beck which at the time of writing is available as a free download (click on the link), but I'll include the Lords track. I was surprised to find that she hails from New Zealand. It never fails to amaze be how many great things emanate from the antipodes. Where would we be without them.

Anyway I need to get off now, so have a wonderful day.

The Seven Hundred and Two Days For Your Diary

This is my seven hundredth blog post and this morning I was informed that I have eighteen copies of The Humans by Matt Haig to give away on World Book Night 2014 on April 23rd, that's a Wednesday this year. I have some ideas how to schedule it and this year I have less to go round so I will make sure none get wasted, on people who's cultural highpoints are Top Gear and Bake Off programs.The premise sounds brilliant:

"One wet Friday evening, Professor Andrew Martin of Cambridge University solves the world's greatest mathematical riddle. Then he disappears.

When he is found walking naked along the motorway, Professor Martin seems different. Besides the lack of clothes, he now finds normal life pointless. His loving wife and teenage son seem repulsive to him. In fact, he hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton. And he's a dog.

Can a bit of Debussy and Emily Dickinson keep him from murder? Can the species which invented cheap white wine and peanut butter sandwiches be all that bad? And what is the warm feeling he gets when he looks into his wife's eyes?"

Sounds brilliant doesn't it? I do have my copy on order and will have it read before the give away occurs.

On 19th Of April (I think because it doesn't tell you the date on the site, just a countdown) it's National Record Shop Day, well that's what I call it , so I will be visiting Reflex and RPM and Beatdown and JG Windows in Newcastle and buying some product. These days are now very big and great fun, with lots of events, and I'll post more in the run ups to both of these events.

Time for bed now, happy seven hundredth post to you all, and it the words of James .... "How Was It For You?" , here's to the next seven hundred.

Last Night I Had A Dream .... A Very Weird Dream

..and I've woken up exhausted. This was a real dream in which nothing made any real sense while also being vaguely familiar. I'm sure a psychologist would have a field day with it, but there's nothing major in it, just a lot of weird juxtapositions. Here goes:

I'm at a skating rink or bowling alley meeting up to go to a Syd Barrett (original leader of Pink Floyd) concert (he's long dead and only die hard fans would attend) . When we get to the venue , a small theatre I meet up with hris from work (who is getting married in a couple of weeks and I'm with my daughters and a few other friends. Syd Barrett comes on stage , which is at the same level as the stalls, but he's obviously out of it so I get up, hold him up, and I sing the first song for him , before he's taken away and a tribute concert then takes place.

After the gig we wonder about going for a meal , there are two Mexican / Indian Wetherspoons pubs restaurants, one called the "Droopy Bell" with a logo of a Bell Pepper. We decide on the other restaurant and at this moment are in an area reminiscent of Newcastle's Haymarket. , coming out of roughly where Boots is now (may we'd been to Sergeant Peppers, but the "Bell Pepper" was where the Metro Station is. We decide on the other restaurant

On the way I'm then with a friend who's a pub owner who needs to order some replacement aluminium beer kegs, so while he's doing that I decide to let people know by phoning them. My phone is out of charge, so I look in my satchel and find an iPhone and wonder what that is doing there....

Then I woke up and thought what he hell was that.

Hope it's kept you entertained, and I have another post to do tonight but I need to get off to work. Have a great day everyone and hope I haven't twisted your melons!

By the way all the drugs I take are purely medicinal , honest. And by next blog  post will be number 700!

I'll Be Damned If I Just Can't Be Happy Today

Not me , but a heck of a lot of people. Last night I got a good sleep, and had a relaxing day , barring the chopping of logs for the wood burning fire. So many people are going round looking for people to blame for anything they can think off. I remember last year a couple of old guys nearly coming to blows in a betting over over who was to blame for the snowed off race meeting , the government or the council.

Similarly  you have the tabloids whipping the public up into a panic of weather , immigration, benefits , heath, whatever.

If you want to get retweeted on Twitter you have to tweet something bad or derogatory or a complaint, probably why I only have a massive 24 followers on my account mikeydred96.

The thing is there are loads of brilliant positive things in the world. If something goes wrong deal with it with help from your friends, it's what they are there for. So many seem to want to play the blame game , I prefer to fix things.

I look for things that put a smile on my face , and they are majorly abundant, although the major ones is people talking to to me and sharing good times. I just wish more people would do things like that. I am proud to have great encouraging friends all over the world who look out for me and always have good news for me and make my day happier.

So my message for today is , you sunshine people out there who keep making my day , please keep making mine and other peoples day, and those out there who play the blame game, try not to , look for something positive , buy someone a present , phone someone. So today I'm going to  post two videos, one The Damned singing the track that inspired the titls and the wonderful Simon's Cat. I am NOT a cat person but these cartoon are brilliant. Enjoy the rest of your weekend my friends.

Knocked Out .. Loaded

Having to give the Ben Waters , Nine Below Zero gig a miss because of the cold and getting run down. Although I thought it was a Ben Waters gig, then I find it was Nine Below Zero featuring Ben Waters, which is not a bad thing but I really need to sleep and recuperate. So I've included Ben's imprmptu Eastern European Style Version of Johnny B Goode in Australia which shows what a versatile , clever and humourous keyboard player he is.

Again that's not  a bad thing, it just means I need some rest, there will be other gigs , and the weather is improving (lots of blue skies this morning).

And that's to Youtube and Catch Up TV I can watch things from the comfort of my front room. I love going t gigs but sometimes your body tells you no, and you need to listen to that. I'm going to have an early night, and get lots of rest to make sure I am going to be in tip top form for Sunday..

So an early night for me , you enjoy your Saturday Night everybody.

Because i Can ....Be Happy

Just woke up , and it's 2am here and I'm just posting because I can. I feel wide awake , but 2 am is not a good time to be wide awake unless you're at a party. But there's no work tomorrow so I can do this. It's also an excuse to include a brilliant TED Talk on the "science" of happiness and it is worth watching. One of the reasons I blog is so that I can remember things that I've enjoyed, sometimes it will be a gig , sometimes something I've seen on the web , meeting with friends and lots of things and that's why I leave it  open to the public because others my find itinformative and worth reading.

I'm a fairly public person on the web, easy to find if you want, but I suppose the blog is fairly selfish and self centered, itn that it's essentially for me, and if others want to come along for the ride then so be it.

I really didn't intend this post to be much more than a sentence , but it's amazing how sometimes once you start writing words seem to just flow from your fingertips. Whether those words are worth committing to some permanent medium is a different matter (M Knight Shyamalan and Dan Brown I'm thinking of you, but it's made you both a hell of a lot richer than most people, so as usual I'm in the tasteful minority here).

Anyway I'm going to try and get back to sleep, but really check out Dan Gilbert's talk, be happy and have a great weekend.

Friday Is Here

I know it's not the last working day of the week for everyone but it is for me and a lot of others. The Arctic Winter and Bulgarian Invasion forecast by the redtops and tabloid rags never appeared, so generally life is good, and thought it was time I posted something.

I do intent to do a blog post by talking into my phone and maybe I'll do that this weekend, and I also need to do some more recording. I have in my head an idea for an album, although I can't say a thing about it as the title will give it away, although it's probably already been done but not by me , yet. The old Apple iPad with Garageband will be my recording studio for that.

I've also keeping up writing my book , with an October finish target and that I will hit. Anyway I'm drinking Lemsip to stave off my cold and will soon be leaving for work. There are lots of Friday related songs but there's only one I'm going to leave on here for you , The Cure's Friday I'm In Love (again).

Have a great Friday everyone, I certainly will.

When You're Happy

In my last post I said I wasn't impressed with Pharrel's Happy. That's just my opinion and I know lot's of people who think it's wonderful, ad let's face it , it would be a boring world if we all liked the same thing.

If you#re happy it makes life much better, things may cause us problems , but these are times when you need to hook on to what makes you happy . It may be friends , family , music , films , books, a TV program , something inspiring , just go to what lifts your spirit. Happiness brings on amazing positivity, it helps you make life better.

We all have lot's of things that make us happy and they are usually not very far away.

This post is not a very Monday morning post as it's the start of another weak , but I have lots to keep me occupied on my journey to work, I know I will laugh a lot while I'm at work , and I know I will enjoy the journey home. I may see a gorgeous sunrise and good things may happen that I have got a clue about and life is really about looking for and appreciating these things . The more things you can find that make you happy then the happier you can be, and the happier you are then life is so much better.

So find the sunshine in everything and have a great start to a great week. And these means I can post my other favourite song called Happy by The Carpenters, my mums favourite band and she loved this song as well!.

Just An Excuse to Be Happy!

I've had a fairly quiet weekend, watched some TV and read the papers, quite impressed at the coverage that the sad passing of Sir Tom Finney got in the media. Anyway it's the end of the weekend now and another week awaits. I can't say I'm looking forward to going to work but I am looking forward to having a good crack with all the good friends I have made there. I also know that I actually have a lot of good things going for me.

A quote from watching Channel 4's Babylon (which I enjoyed) . "I love going to work, It's the eight hour wait to go home that I can't stand!".

Today we had blue skies and sunshine, though it has been very cold without actually freezing. It's still February so I suppose still technically winter, but the sunshine is on it's way back and spring is coming.

I've been listening to some British Sea Power today, their latest album "From The Sea To The Land Beyond" which is wonderfully atmospheric. But I really must get recording and writing again which I keep promising to do.

There was a phone call last night for a plastic surgery appointment which I've had to cancel, but may be rescheduled in  May although I think it's linked to the specialist appointment I have in August about the damaged nerves, but we shall see soon.

I finally heard Pharrel's Happy today, and was shocked how insipid it is. The Carpenters and Rolling Stones both have songs called Happy that are actually joyful.....now which one should I choose.

Anyway I am going to make the most of what is left of the weekend, I hope you do too. Have a good one.

Tom Finney A True Great

Sir Tom Finney

Yesterday was Valentines Day and we lost one of the greatest footballers of all time, a hero of mine, and a Preston and England legend. He was 91 , and a perfect gentleman and exemplified dignity and how to conduct yourself, as well has having a good sense of humour.

He never swore but was no pushover and when the mercenary football authorities uprooted the National Football Museum from it's home at Deepdale he told them they couldn't have his memorabilia. I'm sure it gave them more room for for their Coke and McDonalds advertising.

There will be far better obituaries than I could ever write , so check out the Preston North End Forum , the Preston North End site , and the BBC , there will be many more.

The thing is he left a huge legacy and I just love Bobby Robson's stories of him. An excerpt from his book is displayed on the right.An exemplary servant to Newcastle United.

Football today is all about money, with very few loyalties manifesting themselves. While I agree you have to make money in order to provide the entertainment, now clubs just see fans as cash cows, managers are expected to produce instant results and if they don't they are often sacked immediately.

My Tom Finney Shirt

Sometimes even if a manager has done well he sacked after a run of recent bad result. Recently Swansea dispensed with Michael Laudrup's services, Fulham dismissed Rene Meulensteen, Cardiff got rid of Malky Mackay and we're probably not finished by a long chalk. A list on the BBC is here.

These are all Premiership dismissals basically because club owners are scared of not being in the Premier League . The Championship is going the same way due to parachute payments, so League 1 and League 2 are the highest leagues where you can see real competition, where teams play on a relatively level
playing field.





Tom Finney's memory is a shining beacon that people today should emulate but  too many just look for what they can get without regard for others.

And Another Thing....

I was speaking to a few work colleagues and friend and was surpried how many people read this blog. Even if one person reads my post it's a success as far as I'm concerned. I write because I want to, and to remember things  and to let other people know about things and also to give ideas for my ongoing book , which I am still working on.

So if you are reading this, a big thank you for taking your time and reading my ramblings. And it's great the way writing can trigger something that you've forgotten about. I was meant to send a my dear friend Mick Errington details of walks in Northumberland. I feel a little as though I should be in the doghouse but I will phone him tonight.

Anyway thank you for reading and there's only one song for this, Iggy Pop's Success from his Lust For Life album.

Superstitiously Moving Through a Big Country Storm

I'm writing this somewhere between London and York using my USB Tethered Samsung Note. I'm not sure how long the connection will last, but it is actually fairly robust, but it's the first time I've done it like this. Having said that the train has just come to a halt, not always a good sign. I'm on my way back to Newcastle and given the storms and bad weather we have had recently, just a little apprehensive, is is the 13th after all and one of my friends was delayed by four hours on this line yesterday getting home at one am. Teres a lot of related stories on the BBC here.

The weather today has actually been very good and it makes you feel much better when you are going home. Some lovely skies but I can't photograph them as the windows are so dirty.

The seats I'm in are supposedly reserved to York so I may have to move when I get there, but I'm sure I can fine another seat. Two Japanese girls who gave me a bar of Kinder Surprise thought they had reserved seats but they were half an hour early on their train, the conductor let them off though which was nice. I've seen one of their seats is from London to Berwick so I'll nab that one.

So appropriately I'll include The Storm by Big Country from the first album, which should be in your collection and if it isn't , why isn't it?

Always Have The Sound Of Music Around You

I've thought, sometimes when the house or work is quiet, it is always made better by some form of sound, usually music. So when I'm reading on the train I have music playing , and when I used to work from home I always had the radio on or some other music playing. I do believe in an office you shouldn't be listening to music as people may want to speak to you and it's rude and unprofessional not to be available. I quite often have to ask people if they're on a call or not. I only listen to music when I'm on my own , and if someone phones me I can pause , switch off and give my full attention.

Music and sound is a wonderful , wide ranging experience  that definitely can benefit you in seemingly intangible ways. Also picking up a musical instrument is uplifting as well, actually producing music of your own.

I found this footage of the brilliant Blair Dunlop covering the wonderful Richard Thompson, two fantastic guitarists I've had the pleasure to see live a few times.

Anyway enjoy the rest of the weekend.

The Sky May Be Grey But Birdsong Can Alway Lift Your Heart

Today is cold and grey , but I had a good night's sleep, and was woken up by birdsong. All around the world you can see and hear them and, barring the rasping noises of Magpies and Crows, lots are truly amazing and beautiful , and uit's great to just lose yourself in the wonder of nature and the natural world to which they belong. There are a lot of recordings of birdsong on Amazon if you want to relax yourself.

Sometimes you almost just want to pack in the rat race and join in with nature, but then if I did that I wouldn't be able to broadcast this. It's ironic that technology and progress enables us to appreciate things that we couldn't have thought of even fifty years ago.

So if things are stressing you there is nothing better that some natural sound, even if it's on a music player.

And that reminds me of many years ago a good friend of mine playing me an LP of the TT Races. I though it a little odd , but then noticed albums of trains and other noisy vehicles. I 'm not sure if you get such things on CDs.

It's quite amazing how nature can make you feel good, and if you feel good then you are better equipped to deal with the bits of life that may challenge you. Still I would like a bit of sun and blue sky but for now I will make do with birdsong and music.

Have a great day everyone.

Rainy Day

Turkish Grand Bazaar - Grainger Market

Well today started with blue skies , but very cold, now we have a bit of rain. It's nice to have a restful weekend . I visited the Grainger Market  and got some amazing bookmarks from the Turkish Bazaar, which I instagrammed at Christmas as well.

I then wandered past Reflex and saw an impressive looking Ron Kavana boxed set for under three quid  called "Irish Ways - The Story of Ireland In Song, Music and Poetry". It's available quite reasonable on Amazon as well here

CDs from Reflex plus a Bookmark

Obviously this talk of music as well as bookmarks means I do need to put something relevant to the post on here, but should it be British Sea Power or Ron Kavana?

I love both these artists  and recommend both to everyone, and you can find lots of both of them on Youtube.

But having thought about the British Sea Power
 preview of the album I've bought would be a perfect addition to this post, and it could whet your appetite if you don't know them.


Anyway I will leave you with this as I get off to bed, sleep well all.

Quietly

A POster From My Phone

Well this is the third post in a row I've done without a music video. No particular reason , though I am very tired as I type this. I've also been fairly quiet on twitter and and instagram has slowed down , probably because there's that that many interesting things I've thought worth posting about.

It's funny how if you want your post to be viral it has to be a complaint or an attack on something. The public are seldom interested in good news.The media always likes to find something to complain about, making it up if it can't find anything truthful. Some people are only happy when they are miserable and surely that should have been the title of a Smiths song.

Anyway, enough of misery, I'm just going to keep positive thoughts in my head and enjoy my weekend. You can be happy when you have time to yourself and you are in touch with people who make you happy. I always love a smile , although I'm not too good at doing one myself, but I do like to be happy and keep happy and make others happy.

I've included a picture and poem I penned on my phone, so no pen was actually involved , unless you include the stylus from my Samsung Note 2. So anyway have a great weekend, mine is just about to start ..... with me going to bed to sleep .

Stay cool

Where Am I?

Kazakhstan

This week has been manic since  coming back from holiday leaving the house at seven and not getting back til eight at night and I noticed a couple of oddities. We tend to trust the GPS on our digital devices (in this case my Samsung Note), but when in Whitby a couple of the photo locations reckoned I was in Kazakhstan and Речная ул (which I assume is in Russia or east of the UK anyway.

Речная ул

But anyway on Tuesday I used Facebook to check in at the Royal Victoria Infirmary Newcastle , and I didn't notice I'd selected the Montreal version!

While this doesn't create a problem as such it is quite amusing , turning me into to a globe trotter withing a radius of less than a hundred miles.

Also a thing about this blog , for some reason the word TED doesn't turn up in the tag cloud even though I tag this post. Click on the tag below and it will bring back all my TED related posts.

This morning I have a fleeting visit to the Freeman Hospital (another part of NUTH)  before going to Darlington so we shall see where it says I am then!

Anyway I hope that tonight I will be back at a reasonable time and I can make my own tea!

A Whitby Panorama

A Whitby Panorama

Back from a good weekend in Whitby staying at the excellent Dillons. Their Yorkshire breakfast and general cooking are brilliant and Matthew and Craig are such wonderful hosts. I'm well fed, but slept a lot and am now back the the grind so to speak. I've tried to put some photos on Picasa which is now Google+ though the annoying Google (like Microsoft and Apple) just try and force you to do what they want. These are my pictures and I want control of the. Hopefully you can see them here.

While I know that Google are proving this service "free" I  may not want to associate it with everything that is associated with me.

I saw a lot of interesting things, ate at the Magpie Cafe, The Moon and Sixpence and The White Horse and Griffin, all excellent and walked up the 199 steps to Whitby Abbey , which is a fairly gentle incline.

I do love Whitby, it's somewhere that I could probably live, but I still love Newcastle , but who knows what may happen in the future. There some amazing houses there and the views are great, also it's the home of La Rosa although maybe it's best appreciated and kept as a treat, too much of a good thing may make you bored with it.

I would heartily recommend Whitby to anyone though.

Singing Ticket Barriers and Coyotemen

A very quick one this . Chris Hawkins on 6 Music mentioned a singing ticket barrier at Canary Wharf and the fact that Ritch Ames had spliced the barrier with Blur's official video for Song , and very good it is too.

Tonight the Coyotemen play their supposedly final gig at Brewdog in Newcastle, so I will do a review on Spoongig tonight.

I know a short post , but enjoy the video and have a great day

A Question of Balance

I think this will be short. I've finished my first book of the year, started on the second , both by Stuart Maconie incidentally and started making inroads into the TV backlog on BBC iPlayer on my phone. How do I do this?

Basically book on way to work, means I feel I've done something worthwhile and learnt
ed something and made an effort, then coming home I watch stuff on the TV (well my Samsung Note 2). Having said that I do need to fit the TED talks in there somehow as there are a few that I really want to check out, but I will find time somewhere. There are 24 hours in a day after all.

Only one song give the title of the post. From the Moody Blues album A Question of Balance.

Australian Surprise

It'sa couple of days after Australia Day , and I wasn't going to post, but my youngest daughter's partner sent me this video of a totally amazing Australian artist Xavier Rudd. I've never heard of him and was amazed and shared the video on Facebook , which lots of people then shared, obviously as impressed as I was.

I'm not very good with wind instruments and still can't get much out of my didgeridoo  , but I am still stunned by this. His web site is here.

SO just a short post, but that's the thing about the blog, is it should stay here for as long as I want it, so I can always come back and find it , and my friends can also come and enjoy it too.

I think some purchases may be in order