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.