Cruisin' Down the River . . .

. . . well, strictly speaking it was a canal. Part of the old Somerset Coal Canal. 'Er Indoors had said she would like to me to hire a boat for her birthday present so, being an obedient hubby, I obliged and today we set off to Limpley Stoke to have our trip.
The boat was an electric powered day-boat. It was so quiet you had to listen hard to hear the motor running. In fact the bilge pump made more noise than the main propulsion motor.
It was idyllic sauntering along at the maximum-allowed speed of about 4 mph just watching the world go by around us. Ducks, geese, mayflies and many birds were spotted in grand abundance - including several broods of ducklings being shepherded by their mums!
We found a place to stop and banged a couple of stakes into the bank to moor the boat while we ate salads and fruits for lunch. We both had great fun trying to steer. At first neither of us could get used to the fact that when you turned the wheel it took a year-and-a-half before you could detect any reaction from the vessel. There were some quite narrow sections to get through but we managed it without bumping (more or less!)
All in all, a beautifully tranquil trip which we both agreed we would like to repeat.
It somewhat makes up for the postponement of my wife's flying lesson. But, as she said, it still leaves her something to look forward to!
Meanwhile - the idyll is about to be destroyed!
Tomorrow the wife goes to Cheltenham to bring Offspring Junior home from university. He's finished his course and is now just awaiting his results to see if he has gained his degree.
Then, on Friday, we all go to Birmingham to listen to Offspring Senior's final recital for his degree and then bring him home as well!
Oh shit!
The peace and quiet will no longer be peaceful nor quiet.
I think it will take both of us a little while to get used to being part of a larger family again.
Don't get me wrong - I'm very proud of both my kids. They've both worked hard and deserve to get their degrees.
But it is going to take some getting used to the idea of being four instead of two . . .

Frustration . . .

A day of complete frustration.
Yesterday was the day when 'er indoors was to take her trial flying lesson. It was pissing down with rain all morning.
It was hardly necessary to phone to find out it had been postponed. But when she did the earliest it could be re-arranged was in July!
Meanwhile I was supposed to be erecting a new fence. Trouble is that where the new post is supposed to be positioned there is a bloody great tree stump (with the accompanying underground roots). This makes it damned difficult, if not impossible to dig a hole for the new post. On top of that problem it was pissing down with rain (see earlier reference).
Both projects temporarily postponed . . .

Devastation

I have just been watching the BBC news covering the appalling earthquake in China. Tens of thousands are believed dead. Two stories were featured.

In the first a father was seen sitting on a lump of concrete which had once been a hotel. He explained that he had called his son on his mobile phone and heard weak breathing. He had begged rescue workers to search for him. The rescuers broke through the concrete and tried their best to find the son with no result.

The sad pictures of the father still clinging on to hope still sitting on the wreckage moved me to tears.

Then there were pictures of a man trapped - injured but still alive - under the remains of another building. A TV reporter had given him a mobile phone to talk to his wife. He told her he didn't think he had much chance of survival. By the time he was extracted from the rubble it was too late . . .

The hopeless look of frustration and sadness on an army officer's face relates much more than I can ever write.

Because of previous Chinese policies to reduce population many families only have one offspring. Thus whole generations have been wiped out by this tragedy.

How fragile life is. . .

Watch these stories for yourself. Visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7407510.stm

and mourn along with me for those who have died - and those who survived.

Mac plays live!

Well, it hasn't really happened for more than ten years. Mac playing music live - in front of a real listening audience.
Pete, my old mate from thirty-odd years ago, e-mailed me to tell me of a musicians' evening at one of his local pubs in the Forest of Dean. I didn't think much more about it but mentioned in passing to long-suffering " 'er indoors" that I wouldn't mind going along. She suggested we pay a visit to the forest in the afternoon and then go on to the gig to have a listen. So it was agreed - we'd go and have a listen.
Then, on Friday night, the inevitable happened. It happens every time we get a warm spell. Two doors down decide they're going to have a barbecue in their garden. First you get the smell of firelighters. Then the smoke as the charcoal starts to burn. Finally you get the smell of cremated meat ("we must make sure it's really cooked or else we might get salmonella").
I was so moved by this that I sat down and wrote a sarcastic grump-song about it entitled Another Darned Barbie.
Comes today and we make sandwiches, pack my guitar and head for the Forest. The area has changed considerably from how I knew it some 30-odd years ago but we finally found a quiet place to park and had a delightful walk listening to the birdsong and watching the wildlife.
Back to the car and sandwiches - then on to the venue. It's a pub. There's a few locals and some others who have come to listen. The guy running it - goes by the name of Bob - got up and, assisted by a guy called Lefty and the guy who plays drums with the Wurzels and my mate Pete on bass, got the whole thing underway with a few of his own numbers.
Then he called for others to come and do their thing. There wasn't much response so I plucked up the courage and got Pete on bass, Lefty on guitar and the drummer to join me in Another Darned Barbie. As I hadn't had time to properly learn the words my poor wife got deafened acting as music stand so that I could read them.
The song went down well - especially the line which went: "Why is everybody into animal cremation?"
Another young band got up - these kids were something else. Each of them had more talent in their little fingers than I have in the whole of my body. The girl had an amazing voice - and could really play a guitar - and the drums! Not only that she was good looking. I wish I'd asked their names because I would have been proud to list them in this blog. They didn't have a bass player so I picked up Pete's bass and joined them. They seemed grateful for a bit of bottom end.
I continued on bass for most of the rest of the evening - playing for the resident musicians and several of the stand-up musicians as well. Pete said afterwards he was grateful because usually on these gigs he is the only bass player and thus has to play all night.
Meanwhile my poor long-suffering wife had to sit it out. She said afterwards that she enjoyed listening but it was "a bit loud"!
One of the best days off I have had in a long time . . .

Humphrey Lyttelton - the End of an Era

It was with great sadness that I heard the news of the death of Humphrey Lyttelton.
Perhaps best known for his music - a great jazz trumpeter - I remember him best for his wit and pure presence on the Radio 4 programme I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue which he chaired for more than 35 years.
Barry Cryer, a colleague on the show, gave the ultimate acclaim when he remarked about Humph's amazing comic timing: "He was the only person who could get a laugh from radio silence."
He, along with his colleagues on the show, gave my family and me many happy hours of side-splitting laughter.
Humph will be sadly missed across a wide spectrum of people.
Goodnight, Humph.

Vista plus Norton equals CHAOS

I have just purchased a new computer. It came with Windows Vista Home Premium (all hail to the god William Gates) and Norton. The computer says it will run at 4 gHz. OK, great.
BUT . . .
Mr Gates over-wordy software plus Norton's interfering checking, and the stupid laptop-style keyboard on this computer all combine to make this the most user-unfriendly system I have ever used (or abused).
Sod Mr Norton and Mr Gates! I have achieved greater speeds from an Amstrad 512 Word Processor!
Come the revolution Mr Gates will be the first to be put up against the wall.
And I claim the right - after 30 years of suffering his software - to be the first to pull the trigger!

Who will be President?

Who's going to be the next President of the United States? McCain seems to have secured the Republican nomination - or has he?
Clinton and Barak are neck and neck in the Democrat camp - both wanting to be first. First woman President. First black President.
Who - outside of America - gives a shit?
Whoever gets in it'll be the same old USA thinking it owns the planet.
Look over your shoulder Mr or Madam President - Asia will soon be taking away your mantle of the world's greatest economy. And be sure they won't give a shit about a failed Western economy like yours!

Nothing to say

It strikes me that I have not made an entry for more than a month.
It also strikes me that nobody has noticed this - not even me!
It could be that nobody reads my blog!
I don't believe it . . .

Happy Christmas!

Just in case anyone reads my blog - I wish you all a very happy Christmas.
And if you don't read my blog - then you should!
It's important to me.
But it's only important to me - nobody else.
So what the hell - Merry Christmas anyway:-)

Nuclear Bullshit

Robert Gates, US Defence Secretary, has defended Israel's nuclear armaments at a Middle East security conference attended by most of the Arab world.

He does not see the comparison between Israel's nuclear arsenal and a possible Iranian nuclear capability. He stated that Israel does not train terrorists to disrupt the Lebanese government.

This, understandably, brought wry smiles to the faces of government representatives from the Arab states in the region.

Of course Israel does not train terrorists. It has no need. It has a legitimate military to do its dirty work.

Like suppressing the Palestinians.

Like taking the Golan Heights from Syria.

Like invading Lebanon on several occasions, killing thousands of innocent civilians over the killing of a few Israeli soldiers.

But all this is legitimate because it is the army, not a bunch of terrorists.

Yeah, right.

Who was it who helped build that army?

Who gave the Israelis the know-how to make nuclear weapons - which could be called "weapons of mass destruction" (where have I heard that phrase before?) and the means of delivering them?

The Yanks!

No wonder the other governments taking part in the conference thought that Mr Gates was the comedy act in between the real discussions!

With statements like those from Mr Gates who can believe anything that the US government says? But then, the US government is so tied to the Jewish vote that it dare not do anything less if it wants to survive.

There will be elections next year to see who is President of the US. It doesn't matter to the Israelis which party gets in because they have the monetary leverage to make sure their desires are fulfilled whether the President is a Republican or a Democrat.

Shit happens . . .

Unfortunately American shit costs lives.