. Cheers "
Poirot - "Suchet is the best by far."
Shetland - "Douglas Henshall is great as Perez, but the books describe him as dark and Spanish looking...."
Vera - "Another wonderful character from Anne Cleeves played beautifully by Brenda Blethyn."
"....think I’m due a Bonus Track."
Montalbano – Original or Young version. Even with sub-titles it has always grabbed my attention. A great insight to Sicilian crime.
"I am told that there is an electric open mic held at the pub in Hockering every other Sunday. I might go along but what would I play? But I do own a telecaster!
During the first and second lock downs I settled down to a routine of playing fiddle tunes on my mandolin, for an hour or so, each and every morning. pretty much without fail. I’d then put the kettle on, and Jayne and I would do the Guardian crossword, online, accompanied by strong coffee and Fig Rolls or Garibaldi biscuits. I hardly bothered to pick up any kind of guitar. Although recently I have been picking out tunes on my old National again, even I admit, it is lacking in that total commitment. It seems that I have gently drifted out of the habit.
Now that the COVID figures are starting to look alarming once more, I think I may need to fill the time between Dawn and Elevensies, musically, again. I always meant to learn how to play ridiculously overdriven widdly guitar solos. I am easily impressed and think that most other people must be too, and for that reason, it seems to be the perfect way to gain the idolisation that I have always craved? I also still have a hankering for that Power Pop zappiness. The two things do fit together surprisingly well....
This week I have been thinking about musical models, that I might lean on (if not outright copy) with which I might dazzle my listeners!
I am sure that I have had Eddie Van Halen, and I believe ’My Sharona’ before (probably more than once) The Smithereens, ‘A Girl Like You’ was pretty good as Pop Goes… and Robert Palmer too… I don’t remember if I have ever had Power Station’s ‘Some Like It Hot’ and what with all that technicolour armpit shaving, and flaming cactuses, neon and all, it is a great video, very much of its time, and ohhh that quick burst of guitar widdle!!!!! Superb……. but it isn’t really excessive enough. There is their ‘Get It On’??? Only a cover version but it does have the makings of something better…. And that guitar solo goes on a bit longer…."
"I thought about The Scorpions - ‘Taken By Force’ but they look so ridiculous in their vids, and the title is so un ‘PC’, that I would be embarrassed to be associated with them. Then there was ‘Flirtin' with Disaster’ by Molly Hatchet which makes me snigger too! Not that I don’t love it!!! (But Really!) Or maybe something like Kenny Loggins ‘Danger Zone’ (Not to be confused with the Percy Mayfield song of the same name recorded by Ray Charles and released as the B side of the single version of ‘Hit The Road Jack’) which is always fun but still a bit antiseptic… Too much compression???? But really for full on sonic squeeeelyness, wallop, whump and excess you have to go back to proper 60s, 70s when they were still creating the genre as they went along…"
"Hi folks, hope you're all well and getting boosted, flu jabbed & whatnot if indicated & in agreement.
Kitesurfing is my main passion in life, so exhilarating but it's also risky & I had a very close call at Walberswick last Friday. Details not particularly interesting to non kiters, but I was stuck in a horrendous situation in the remnants of the old harbour wall & my kite pal Ryan rescued me. My 3 this week are an homage to his quick thinking & bravery, I'll be forever grateful. The 3rd track, Aussie rap is his choice, not mine, just saying...
"A warning on my last choice for this week; the language is a bit ripe and may offend some..."
"Jackie has covered the best live music of the week...so, going to run with the Bonfire Night theme..."
Fireworks over North Yorkshire.
Gabrovo Zoo is one of the attractions of the city. It is located in the district Petkova niva, near the National Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium. It was founded in 1973 and is situated on 5.61 acres of which 4.41 are actively used. Currently in the mini zoo has 150 animals and birds from 40 species. Among his most attractive inhabitants are two lions, brown and black bears, African ostriches, tailless cats and rusty catfish Hussar. Among the specimens can be seen and dwarf goats, geese, mallards, iguana, golden pheasant baboon hamadril and others. In 2007 the zoo in Gabrovo got second in state license from the Ministry of Environment and Water, for life to protect wild species outside their natural environment, through the cultivation and breeding under controlled conditions. In October 2009 it was announced a competition to develop a design for the logo of Gabrovo zoo. The competition involved 24 artists from all over Bulgaria with nearly 100 proposals. From all, the logo of the Zoo was chosen project of 31 -year-old architect Anton Kolev from Gabrovo, who seven years living and working in Düsseldorf, Germany. Near the zoo, only 3 km. from the center of Gabrovo, road with picturesque winding reaches Gradishte. Here, in the cool pine forest is a large lawn with swings and picnic spot. Over the meadow on a mountain trail reaches the high rock plateau where there are excavations of the fortress IV - V century, guarding the way through the Shipka Pass. If you choose Gabrovo for your walk or traveling zoo is undoubtedly one of the places where you will enjoy a pleasurable and relax in the beauty of nature and its exotic animal residents.
It was a long and excruciatingly slow journey to Wales, with speed restrictions/engineering work doubling the journey time to Crewe. This was also my first train travel of any kind since You Know What. So, it was a relief all round to complete the last leg of the journey and step down onto the platform at Knighton.
I strode along a quiet lane to the campsite, and with no one around simply pitched up, calling the owner later. A warm evening then made for a pleasant stroll into town alongside the River Teme and the Offa’s Dyke path. Indeed, the whole town is very much about the Dyke, and there’s very little attention given to Glyndŵr’s Way, one of whose trailheads is actually in the centre of town.
In walking into town I crossed the heavily defended border between England and Wales, and spent a few moments in “border ceremonies”, and in helping another couple record the same for them.
Dinner was fish and chips, which I could have taken next door to eat in Watson’s Ale House, but I opted for a seat by the river instead, where I watched a guy try to coax his aged, poor-sighted dog into the shallow and gently flowing waters to fetch enormous sticks.
Back at the campsite, I met Kay and Steven, who are walking Offa’s Dyke and we chatted a while. Then it was back to the tent for some tea and a bit of a chill out.
A gunshot at 2:40am effectively ended my night’s sleep, my mind now alert to the slightest sound. This should have then translated into an early start, but with a short first day planned, and a desire to grab breakfast in town, I lazed around in the tent until just before 9am before packing up and heading in.
Breakfast was taken at the Black Sheep Cafe, before retracing my steps a short way to the clocktower where the path starts. A finger post pointing to Llangunllo, and my lunchtime target. A short way further up the street, a large standing slate thingy marked the trail, forming a more fitting start. Here a couple I’d seen lurking around town asked me to take their picture, which I did, before getting them to reciprocate.
A few twists and turns in Knighton and then I was climbing up a nasty passage overgrown with bracken and nettles – a fitting beginning to the trail and a sign of what was to come.
The path contoured around Garth Hill and provided a lovely shady walk to start with. A lane then turned into a relentless uphill slog before descending through a field to Downe’s Dingle.
I took my first proper rest in the shade of some trees in the next field, and the couple from Knighton passed me then. I was already suffering from lack of form and the hot day. The path had the upper hand already!
After I restarted, there was a lot of slogging through fields of long grass and my legs were like jelly as I descended through more bracken and more long grass into Llangunllo.
Here, when I went to check the pub was definitely shut (it’s a Monday, so bound to be), I found