Rainbows and Robots

Rainbow over My Road With Pan Dimensional Car

This is a very short post, but this morning I went out for a paper , and we've had wind and rain, and as I left the house saw this amazing rainbow. So I photographed it. As I walked up the road it still seemed as clear from end to end , and I could see more of it and a lady coming the other way remarked it was the most impressively clear rainbow that she had seen in many a year. I looked back again to take another picture but the span was too big for my phone lens. So I tries the panorama shot which is what the shot above is.

There was a car coming up the road which is why I've lost half of it as it was moving at the time. This is probably the biggest rainbow I've ever photographed.

Out of the rain and bad weather we got this wonderful rainbow against a very blue sky.

And it's something to analogise with that sometimes out of apparently bad things sometimes good things can come. It's not always the case although if you look for positives you can usually find them, well I can, and I'm pleased that most of my friends can.

Aye Robot

One of my friends put me on to the Danboard Robot figures which are simple and cute and spreading like wildfire. They're posable and great to photograph as you travel around. I may get one myself although I'm not sure where I would put it or what I would do with it, but I know these will bring smiles to a lot of faces this year and will probably be on a hell of a lot of Christmas lists. My only slight gripe is the Amazon name on the box body , but , again maybe that's part of the charm.

And that gives me an idea for a song for this post, which I hadn't even thought of when I started, I was hoping for "International Robots" but had to make do with "Do The Robot" by Australia's finest - The Saints.


So I'm going to sign off now , everybody have an absolutely brilliant week, I intend to. See you soon

An Apple A Day

Just noticed that Apple is my second most tagged item after Newcastle. While I love Newcastle , Apple I can take or leave, and in fact some folk think I detest Apple. I actually don't , but anyone who tries to get complete control of me in any way whatsoever, I tend to give short shrift to. So that includes , Google , Microsoft,  Sky, BT , Virgin, Politicians and almost everyone who wants me to follow their line.

Then I started thinking am I just whingeing on this blog? If you look at Twitter and Facebook the things that get picked up on are where people are complaining or laughing at others' misfortune, and that is no way to be, but is the may of the world unfortunately.

Social Media can be good or bad , I hate things like Fail Army , but it can mean that you can quickly encourage people and offer them support and spread good news, which is the way I always try t do something. I always try to make my posts positive and have something good connected with it.

So I'm going to have the Onion's Apple Device review on here, which is a fun ridiculous dig at Apple.

It's the weekend and a grey day but there are lots of ways to have fun, if you can read this you're connected , and if you're connected , connect with others positively. It will make you feel better and them feel better.

If something annoys you try and deal with it , instead of moaning, bring sunshine into people's lives and they will usually return it, and you will feel good.

Right that's enough ne age do goodery for today, I 'm going to take some serious drugs and continue having a brilliant weekend. YOU enjoy yourself , lookk in the mirror , smile and say "I am wonderfully happy" then keep the feeling up throughout the weekend.

Have a brilliant day everybody.

The Porridge Fairy

I never know how to spell porridge, if you follow the link it lists a few alternatives (porage, porrige, parritch, etc.) so that could explain my confusion , so it's not just the fact that my IQ is less than my show size. Anyway today one of those series of events came together to cause a particular  non situation.

Faerie Tales

Breakfast

I started cooking my breakfast of organic porridge and also made a cup of tea. When I'd measured the stuff out I elastic banded the bag an chucked it in the cupboard. This was stuff I'd got from the excellent Mmm in The Grainger Market ages back and very nice it is too. Anyway I then noticed that the milk in the tea had curdled, and I'd used the same for the porridge , so chucked it away and went back into the cupboard for more oats .... and there were none there!! I thought I saw the bag but it was noodles. Then I finally found the errant bag and it was hidden behind some cans of beans and pulses. How did that happen?


Unless someone ..... or something moved it! Well actually what happened is I threw the porridge bag a bit harder than I though and there was a gap behind the cans where it landed.

Then I thought about the similarity with faith, haunting and magic situations where people don't want to really know the answer and in most cases are just too lazy to find it. It's the basis for atrology , psychic charlatans and religious fraud like Creationism. Oh I cant think the Devil or God or The Fairies did it. Derek Acorah and Most Haunted play on this situation. I mean this are as as valid.

• My car has stopped, God must not want me to go to worker so he stopped my car: 
• NO - You've run out of Petrol!
• The lights have gone out, Satan has plunged us into darkness: 
• NO - A fuse has blown or you've not payed your bill
• The porridge has disappeared from the food cupboard, the porridge fairy must have moved it:
•  NO - you chucked it in there too hard and it went to the back of the cupboard

Fairies

So anyway that's what happened this morning , but the sun is shining brightly this morning just in tome for a great weekend. Have a fantastic Friday everyone and have an even better weekend.

Thought the rather excellent Bastard Fairies would be an appropriate song for today.

Autumn, Hemp, Nettles and Australian Penetration from Pauline

Autumn is definitely here, the leaves are turning yellow , gold and brown and falling from their trees covering paths and gardens, and it's windy and rainy but we are in the middle of  October. It's dark when I leave for work and dark when I'm getting back and the heating is now on for longer and getting turned up.

There's a couple of upcoming gigs, next week including a warm up one for Pauline Murray at the Tyneside Bar and Cafe before her first tour of Australia. I've seen her twice fronting Penetration recently , check out posts here. so I am looking forward to that. I recently went for an evening of Nic Cave songs so as yet my gigs there have had an Australian connection.

Blood Better

The other thing this week is that I had noticed that my blood sugar was getting high, yes I'd been on holiday , but it was hitting 12 to 20 at it's worst. I couldn't think what had changed , and then realised I'd run out of hemp oil tablets, and at the same time I read that nettle tea was good for reducing blood sugar , so I got myself some and the blood sugar is now back to normal after a couple of days. I'm quite amazed that something can have an actual effect that quickly so I'm going back to see my doctor to discuss it with her.





So an interesting week, and hopefully we can all keep warm and cozy while enjoying the good things in life. Have a great day everybody. Thought I'd include the Philosopher's Song from Monty Python as it always bring a smile to my face and I'm sure it will to yours.

Ai Weiwei at The Yorkshire Sculpture Park

The Iron Tree

Back from holiday but I was mightily impressed by The Yorkshire Sculpture Park . It's big and it's impressive and it's mostly outdoor. I originally wanted to go for the Ai Weiwei exhibition, but this turned out to be one of many wonders at the place. I've found a copy of the documentary "Never Sorry" to include with this post , but there's details of the exhibitition Ai Weiwei "In The Chapel" , which includes poetry from his father and some wonderful exhibits, The Iron Tree being my favourite, here.

Ursula Von Rydingsvard

I was also impressed with the work of Ursula von Rydingsvard , one of her sculptures hits you when you when you enter the park , which is just off junction 38 on the m1.

The brilliance of the park is that it attracts you to an exhibit, and then as you are studying it you will see another, five or ten minutes walk away, and before you know where you are you are way off your original planned visit.



Because it's mostly outdoor it's best to have a good day for a visit, and make sure you have a camera with you. If you are reliant on film , make sure you have plenty of rolls, and if digital , you may need an extra memory card or two because not only are the exhibits worth picturing, the landscape is wonderful too.

My photographs of the day are here and you can use the website to find out more about the pictures I took.

Ok have a brilliant Saturday , the weather here is fantastic.

Hardwick Cottage Ampleforth and a Vinyl Record Shop

I may have posted this before , but Ampleforth along with Whitby is one of the few places I could probably live. Obviously I love Newcastle and that's where my life is full of friends and family, and I come from Preston and have lots of friends and family there.

This is about the fourth time we've stayed in Hardwick cottage and it provides the ability to be cut off along with the convenience of local amenities within walking distance, as well as pubs and the option to eat out or have take aways. The cottage is here. In May I thought that would be my final visit, but the situation has changed slightly and we will be back at the beginning of December and maybe again next year which really pleases me.

Slim Whitman 78

Elvis at the door

There are lots of small towns near such as Helmsley, Thirsk and Northallerton which I visited yesterday and shockingly found a vinyl record shop. I'm not a vinyl junkie but it was a pleasant surprise to actually find somewhere selling records just off the main street. The name of the shop is BetterDaze and has lots of vinyl, memorabilia, jukeboxes and record players, mainly rock and rock and roll. They also have a Facebook page here.




You're greeted by an Elvis figure when you enter the shop and there were quite a few people in there when I dropped by yesterday afternoon.

So I'm just having a great holiday here and am really enjoying it, and the Happy Days intro always puts a smile on my face. Have a great day everyone.

Consequences

It's quite funny how simple things can have unexpected consequences. I'm on holiday in Ampleforth and manages to forget a lot of things, but thank god not the remote for my media player, but I forgot my glasses. Without my glasses I can't really see much detail without them, enough to get by but not to do the stuff I want.

I don't like showering with contact lenses in so effectively to actually do what I want I have to get up and shower and then I may as well get up. It's not a problem but it does mean that I need contact lenses in all day that I don't usually do.

Freakonomics

This post is probably the most boring one that I've ever written but I'm on holiday so I'm allowed to do things like this. Although I could have gone on about unexpected consequences and that reminds me of a great book by Levitt & Dubner called Freakonomics which details the unexpected consequences of events and actions and poses such scenarios as:

• What do estate agents and the Ku Klux Klan have in common?
• Why do drug dealers live with their mothers?
• What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?
• How can your name affect how well you do in life?

And a lot more, it is amazing how simple events can have a domino effect on other events. Anyway that's as deep as I'm going to get today, so enjoy your day  and I will continue enjoying mine.I thought the Guinness advert was fairly appropriate for the subject of this post. Have a great day!