Wednesday November 30, 2005

Jools Holland live and on cd

Last week we went to see Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues band in Reading at the Hexagon venue. It was the second time we had seen him there and it was a very good show. The band played for about two hours and before they came on there was a support act. He had some guests; Marc Almond from Soft Cell (brief) fame who did his two hits with Jools and his band. Two folks from his new album also appeared Ruby Turner and Solomon Burke. Solomon is infirm and he was wheeled onto the stage in a big throne type chair. Jool's brother also played in the band and took over on the piano when his brother did a track when he played a guitar. It would be remiss of me to mention Sam Brown who usually appears with Jools she is an excellent singer such a powerful voice. Two things I also like about the way the show pans out; each musician get a chance to go the the middle of the stage and do a sort of solo piece even the guys who are not the lead trombone, trumpet etc. Jools also mentions each of their names after they do their solo. The other thing I like is they are all clearly really enjoying themselves. The band came back for two encores pretty good given the time they had already played. But of course the star of the show is Jools himself, he is amazing on the piano. Years of practice maybe but he a unique talent.

So onto the cd's the latest, called Swinging the Blues Dancing the Ska has the guests Ruby Turner and Solomon Burke singing some tracks. Its not a bad album but I think his best are the ones where each track on the cd has a special guest. To my knowledge he did three of these. The first has for instance, Sting, George Harrison, Paul Weller, Joe Strummer, Sterophonics, Suggs ( from Madness) Mark Knopfler, Van Morrison, Steve Winwood, Mick Hucknall ( Simply Red), Eric clapton and of course Sam Brown. The second cd of friends features Norah Jones, Edwin Starr, Bryan Ferry, Dionna Warwick, Tom jones, Chrissie Hyde ( Pretenders), Sterophonics, Ray Davies, Marianne Faithfull, George Benson and Bono. The third has Smokey Robinson, Steve Earle, Nick Cave, Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel, Ringo Star, Paul Rogers, Kirsty MacColl. In all three cd's I have only listed the more well known artists. Each cd has at least twenty tracks - excellent value. So even if you do not like the big band sound I would recommend having a listen.

The Lighthouse

So this is the progress so far. The edges were done first, then the lighthouse itself. It was quite easy as there were not many white coloured pieces. The red light itself was also simple. Of course I was embarassed by the fact I initially had it upside down which was pointed out to me by a work collegue. The lighthouse is now fixed to the edge of the puzzle and the rock is coming along nicely.

Tuesday November 29, 2005

A few Xmas present ideas.

This weblog item is dedicated to Geoff Arnold . The kind people from Glenmorangie sent me their newsletter this week. Inside it has some xmas gift ideas.

Thirty year old Glenmorangie Malaga cask finish. Before bottling, the whiskey is put into casks previously used to mature fine, sweet Malaga wine ( Malaga dulce). The taste is described as "big and full flavoured, the mouthfeel is an amazing balance of syrupy, chewy and mouth warming effects." Price two hundred and fifty pounds.

Glenmorangie Truffle oak this has nothing to do with truffles but comes from the term of finishing the whiskey in newly charred virgin oak casks. The oak used is quercus Robur or truffle oak grown in the black forest of southwest Germany - a very porus hardwood. This imparts greater flavour into the whiskey. Taste "Rich smooth and creamy - slightly tingly as the fruit and spices simmer on the tongue." Price sixty five pounds.

Finally, a few facts on Glenmorangie. Parisian perfumer Christian St Roche found no fewer than twenty six named aromas in the bouquet of Glenmorangie Ten years old. The angels share is the spirit lost by evaporation during the maturation process. As the oak casks are porous inevitably some of the liquid is lost over the course of time. The Glenmorangie name means valley big of peace" and comes from the Gaelic Gleann mor na sith.

Monday November 28, 2005

Two walks up two hills, a concert and a curry

On a chilly weekend we managed two walks. This first was from pretty Cookham village just outside the town of Maidenhead. One of the village's famous sons was Stanley Spencer and in the village is a gallery of his paintings. We walked on the old raised road out of the village and over its bridge built as a gift in 1929 replacing many that had been swept away in floods over the years. Soon we were walking along the never ending Terry's lane and into the John Lewis golf course built in 1976 for its employees. By now the North wind was very biting and my ears were stinging. Had it been a brighter day we could have got a good view of Cliveden's clock tower with its golden coloured face which looks stunning even from a distance. We soon got to the the summit of Winter Hill which actually stretches along for quite a distance and we then dropped down into a field and made our way to the banks of the Thames. We passed the site of an old ferry and saw that the cottage which housed the ferryman has been renovated but still has its attractive whitewash with light blue woodwork. On our right are the 132 acres known as Cockmarsh - a site of scientific special interest and owned by the National Trust. A bit further on we passed the pub known as the Bounty in winter time only open at weekends. Outside it it has a welcoming sign;

We welcome walkers with muddy boots.
You can use our loo even if you don't buy anything from us.
We welome dogs who's owners make sure they behave.

It has on old boat as a bar and has loads of old memorabila on the walls and ceilings. I had a nice ham and tomato sandwich before we carried on further along the river bank.

On the opposite bank are some very nice and expensive houses, often with their own place to moor a boat. We soon left the river bank and headed back to the village and the car park.

In the evening we had tickets to a concert at St Mary's church in the centre of our village. Our neighbour was to take part. Twyford has its own Handbell ringing group who are doing well and expanding. The first half of the concert was to be several numbers played by them. In between pieces their conductor told us more about the history of the group and also the techniques of playing the bells. There is clearly more to it that just shaking the handle! Before the interval the Surrey Serinette Ladies Choir did some pieces and we retired to the church hall for a glass of wine. Afterwards the choir did some other tracks and then the handbell ringers took over with a medley of several Christmas carols. It was a very nice event and some of the proceeds will go towards buying more bells for the group.

On Sunday we did a walk closer to home starting at nearby Knowl Hill. Here there are gravel workings which also serve as a refuse site once each is fully excavated. We followed Star lane past the brick chimney with its white star painted on it and up into woods. On our right we could see Ashley Hill a mere 474 feet high. After a mile we entered Warren Row village and then headed up into Cayton Park on our way to the summit of Bowsey Hill. There were plenty of beech trees and the colours of leaves on the trees and underfoot were lovely

At the summit (460 feet) we then went down steeply back to our starting point. Because of the gravel workings our path was closed so we ended up retracing much of our original path. On the way back we popped into the Old Devil Inn to see how they were doing only to hear the landlord had decided to quit. A stand in landlady was doing her best and I had a nice cheese and ham sandwich.

In the evening having lived in the village for twelve years we were to finally take advantage of the Sunday buffet nights our local Indian restuarants offer. Bizarre as it might seem the village has four Indian restuarants and very often two of them (the less popular ones) are empty. We have over the years had many meals in each of them but the Sunday buffet at either five or six pounds "all you can eat" seems too good to miss. The one we visited The Haweli is I think the best; certainly very friendly and good food. It was a nice way to end the weekend.

Saturday November 26, 2005

Another UK sporting hero passes away

While many footie fans are mouring the loss of George Best I would like to make folks aware of the fact that the the only English World Rally champion Richard Burns has died . He was diagnosed with a brain tumour a few years ago and finally succumbed to it Friday night. He was a brilliant driver and very different from his great rival Colin Maccrash McRae. It would be good if he got a posthumous gong in the next honors list.

Friday November 25, 2005

Gone fishing back soon.

Sorry Mr ( or Mrs) Swan you won't find any information about what is going to be announced at the Network Computing Q4 2005 event on December 6th, under the chilly waters of the River Thames. You will just have to wait!

Thursday November 24, 2005

F1 Global poll

The F1 racing magazine that gets delivered to our house has in this months edition the resuls from its yearly poll of readers. Kind of crazy as when they do the poll the season is not finished ! Here are the results and my thoughts:

Pit crew of the year, winner Renault. Yes they were good but I don't think they or any other team did any specific thing to win this. In fact the second car's reliability was poor given the bullet proof condition Alonso's seemed to show.

Most improved team. Winner Toyota. Yes they improved but they have spent a small fortune on that team so it had to improve. They also dipped performance mid season. I think Red Bull are my winners here. They took the lame duck Jaguar team and turned it very quickly into a real F1 team. The F1 racing poll had Red Bull fifth in this poll.

Team principle. Winner Flav Briatore. Well anyone who knows me will tell you I have a strong disliking for this man. That aside he has run a good team and has made sure that the folks who work for him get the respect they deserve. So I will let him keep the award.

Drive of the year. Kimi at Monaco. Strange I don't remember this being a spectacular drive. I think drive of the year would go to Kimi but at one of the races where he dragged the car up to P2 etc after being demoted for yet another engine failure.

Start of the Year. Winner DC at the European GP He went from P12 to P4 ( which was his result there). I think the public are right there.

Overtaking manoeuvre. Winner the Monster over Alonso at Silverstone. Well as I said earlier this poll did not include Japan where Alonso overtook Schumi on the outside of the famous 130R turn. That was the best.

Car of the year. Winner Mclaren MP4-20. The best if not the most reliable. An amazingly pretty car as well. I have always liked the colour scheme on the silver arrows. But the car was Adrian's and his team of designers at their best.

Driver of the year. Winner Kimi. 100%. His qualifying laps when heavy on petrol, drives in the races were just awsome.

Qualifier of the year. Winner Trulli. I disagree. He was often on a light fuel load and ended up holding faster cars up. This was called a Trulli train. I think Kimi should get it. After an engine failure during practice they would load his car up with fuel for a long first stint and he would qualify it on P2. It would then translate into P12 but that long first sting catapaulted him up the track when the strategy and race finished.

Rookie of the year. Winner Tiago Monteiro. Yes He did a solid job at Jordan and has been rewarded I think with a drive next year when it is renamed Midland.

Friday driver. Winner Pedro De la Rosa. Yes he did a good job and was always at the top of Friday practice times. When he stood in for the monster when he hurt his shoulder he showed a lack of race craft however.

Personality of the year. Winner Alonso. Yes he is a nice guy and has none of the bad traits of usual F1 champ drivers.

Technical director. Winner Adrian Newey. When this guy gets it right his cars are awsome. He has come up with some brilliant innovations and he always manages to see solutions a little more cutting edge than others. One which no one copied this year were the Viking horns on top of the Mclaren airbox. Well deserved.

Man of the year. Winner Alonso. I don't think this award makes any sense but if you have to have it Alonso deserves it. Kimi is a close second but I think Alonso is a good ambassador for the sport.

So thats the review over, I think a few other categories would be useful:

Race of the year - not just relating to a single driver at a race.

Idiot move of the year. Sato would win this but he may not be in the 2006 season.

Most attactive car of the year

Some kind of technical innovation award. As when the dual keel technologies developed.

Wednesday November 23, 2005

The Navy Lark - or Lost Voices from the Royal Navy

This book by Max Arthur was in fact two volumes now joined together as his other voices book was for the Royal Air Force. The interesting part of these memories by Royal Navy folks is that they all seem longer than the other forces - not sure why. Again I will pick out items in the book that shocked or interested me but try and not spoil the read for potential readers.

The early days sounded very harsh. The junior midshipmen were called snotties because in the even olden days the Navy midshipmen could not afford a hankerchief so would blow their noses on their sleeves. It seems the Admiralty stopped this by sewing three buttons on the cuff of the uniform.

In the first world war the seamen describe while being in port in the UK the sound of Zepplins going over the coast to attack the towns. Something I had not realised happened in World war one. Also in this war U boats were also operating.

One sailor describes on return from a battle as they returned to port, word had got out that their ship had run away from the battle scene. Locals chucked lumps of coal at them from bridges. Luckily the facts became known later on before other ships returned and they got a better reception.

The Q ship strategy is mentioned, small ships with small armaments but disguised as harmless civilian ships. Clever methods allowed quick release of the disguise so they could then attack. The idea was to get as close as possible to the enemy ship and hope they would be boarded so their small arms fire could do decent damage.

A funny story ( but sad) is described where a submarine was spotted in darkness. The ship decided to ram the sub. The sub was vaulted up and onto the deck of the ship and turned out to be a whale! It was already dead and therefore bloated and very smelly. It took the crew weeks to get rid of the smell.

The sinking of the HMS Hood when the Royal Navy were out trying to sink the Bismarck. Only three crew survived. I think the description of how it was hit and sunk so fast is one of the most vivid wartime description of a destruction at sea I have ever read "As I looked out suddenly the Hood exploded. She was just one big pall of black smoke. Then she disappeared into a big orange flash and a huge pall of smoke that blacked us out. Time seemed to stand still. I just watched in horror. The bows pointed out of this smoke, just the bows, tilted up and then this whole apparition slid out of sight, all in slow motion, just slid slowly away. I couldn't believe it. The Hood was gone.

The struggle to keep the island of Malta supplied with food and fuel etc is mentiond by many sailors. One convoy had a tanker called the Ohio with it. It was nearly sunk by increasingly desperate German attacks. They almost got sailors into the sea to swim along side it and push it themselves. The pride of getting that ship into Malta with its valuable aviation fuel on board can be seen in the text.

The X craft are also mentioned by the servicemen. These are mini submarines with four crew that were towed to the area of combat. The crew were often swapped over at this point before the attack started.

The strange events of the French fleet based in Algeria that might have falled into enemy hands after the fall of France is described. A choice was given to those ships; hand yourselves over to the British, scuttle yourselves or de-milterise the ships and sail them to neutral territory. The French were given an extra chance but no reply was given so the Navy attacked its ally. ( but oldest historical enemy) Eventually the French Admiral said "For God's sake stop firing, You're murdering us". Over 1100 French sailors were killed.

The Navy's part in the Dunkirk event is captured by the writers well and perhaps the vision we all have of the Germans just letting the British soldiers leave in peaceful circumstances is shattered by these texts. It was no picnic to say the least.

One last comment from a serviceman who witnessed the sinking of a German boat which ended up going up like an "inferno" is "One's feeelings? Almost a blankness of shock at what had been done. Some relief that it had gone the whay it had. Little exultation - the closing scenes were too grim for that and the remoteness of actions at sea precludes hate between sailors.

Tuesday November 22, 2005

A banana in a freezer or the leaning banana of Twyford

Our banana must be feeling like a third class citizen. First it lived in the dining room and then was ejected to being in the greenhouse in winter or on the patio in summer. Now it and its pot are so big neither will fit through the greenhouse door. So it was time to protect it by other means. I was a bit late in doing this as we already had had some strong frosts this week so it was looking badly frost bitten already - but I think it will be ok now. I went out in the morning when it was still minus three degrees and visited a stable where I know they separate used straw from horse manure. I wanted the straw. The idea is to enclose the banana in straw which is held in place by netting. The now brown leaves were cut off and the stems trimmed. After fixing the netting to the pot I started filling it. Once this was done I cut a piece of netting to go over the top which I held in place by canes. The top is then protected from the worst of the rain by a piece of polythene. The pot terracota also needs protecting so more netting and straw. The birds will love the straw in the spring for nesting material and I hope I don't get any rodents hibernating in it. A cunning plan of mine is this, the straw being used has a few lumps of manure still in it and is soaked in horse urine ( remember to wear gloves next time..) The plan is the straw should start to compost slowly over the winter. As it does so it should generate heat and warm the banana up a bit further protecting it from any nightmare winter promised us.

Monday November 21, 2005

Two excellent walks by Father Thames

After most of the week in bed with flu type symptoms we decided to get some fresh air into me this weekend. The first walk had us start just outside Henley where Marsh Lock is. We walked away from the lock and headed back up to the busy A4155 Henley to Reading road. Having crossed this we left the traffic behind amd headed to the tiny hamlet of Harpsden. It has a pretty church and opposite on a timber building are squares of wood with patterns cut into their surfaces. Each was used to print wallpaper years ago. As each is about 300mm square you can see the labour involved in producing wallpaper years ago. Past the church we went uphill into its pretty wood Harpsden wood. Without a mild autumn/winter its trees would be bare now but they still had amazing colours on the leaves. The path was a carpet of newly fallen leaves. We came out of the woods by a property called Little Beeches and headed across a field to Lower Shiplake. I had an excellent if slightly expensive sandwich ( houmus and roasted vegetables) at one of our favourite pubs the Baskerville Arms. Freshly fed we then continued on what I hoped would be the best bit of the walk. We left the village and headed to the River Thames. We passed a house we have known for years that has its own minature railway. It even has its own station!

We then reached the river which was like a mill pond. The trees and houses were being reflected wonderfully onto the river surface.

We carried along for a short while then reach a long wooden walkway that takes you to Marsh Lock. The original wooden footbridges are said to have been built by Humphrey Gainsborough brother of the famous artist Thomas. Over the last three summers the lock has been closed for the weir to be replaced. This will mean it can do a better job of stopping flooding further down the river. After the lock a second wooden footbridge takes you back to the original bank.

So on Sunday we drove to the pretty village of Hurley also on the . The village is very old and was originally by an old ford over the river. As usual its first church built in 700 AD suffered at the hands of the Danes. The French then got involved and William 1st gave all the land to his trusted chum Geoffrey de Manderville. He built a priory at Hurley. After Henry the Eighth did his dissolution of the monastries the Lovelace family bought the priory esate for 1,500 GPB. In the church we saw an elaborate monument to them. The priory material was then used to erect Ladye Place mansion . Back to the walk. We followed the towpath over three bridges to the pretty Temple lock. The path took us all the way to Marlow. Before reaching the town we passed Bisham Abbey which belonged to the Knights Templar . Many of the present buildings were erected under Henry Eighth. The Hoby family also owned it for a while and the ghost of Lady Hoby is meant to do the odd visit now and then. The reason for haunting the place is she left her son locked in a cupboard for being naughty and was called away to another part of the UK before she had a chance to let him out. He then starved to death. Just before we left the riverside at Marlow we got a nice view of the suspension bridge and its pretty church.

We had lunch at a tearoom and then walked back by a different route. This was a better made path and we felt less likely we would slip on mud or ice that was underfoot.

Sunday November 20, 2005

Friday 18th

Instead of offering my opinion on what should/should not be done as a result of this Fridays event

I include the words (taken out of context) from Bob Dylan's song "Joey" track which is on the "Desire" album:

And someday if God's in heaven
Overlookin' his preserve
I know the men that shot her [sic] down
Will get what they deserve.

My thoughts are with the families affected.

Friday November 18, 2005

A re-read of Fatherland

Having lost my original copy of Robert Harris's excellent Fatherland I had to wait until I found it in a second hand book store before having the chance to read it again - which I have now done. It is even better second time around just like his other books which have read again now. The detail is magnificant and like the others books it would have been so easy to do a sequel which he has refused to do. In this one at the end the main character March thinks his girlfriend has made it to Switzerland to take the damming evidence on its way to the US. But we cannot be 100% sure she made it and what she does with this valuable information. The place is post war Germany. They won. A suspicous deathe leads March to delve deeper into events during the second world war. He is befriended by a US national - a journalist. Eventually they find documents that prove that the final solution really did happen. Meanwhile they are being chased by the Gestapo. A brilliant story if I have not spoilt it for you go read it. Can't wait till his new book appears.

Accident black spots

The motorway I drive on is currently undergoing roadworks. Recently an accident occured on that section and my drive home was delayed. As I sat in the snarl up I observed the usual set of selfish behaviours that we come to expect:

Rubber necking, were the other lane usually not impacted by the incident slow down to take a look.

People changing lanes because the lane they are changing two appears to be moving faster than their own.

In our snarl up a slip road joined the motorway. So folks have to join the queue of cars. Past where the slip road ended a car sped down the hard shoulder and nipped into a gap thereby getting ahead of where they should have joined by a dozen cars.

I am sure the police have enough to do at these incidents so they don't have time to give these guys a severe ticking off. Pity.

Thursday November 17, 2005

Early New years resolutions.

As the shops seem to be getting ready for xmas, I am thinking ahead to this years New Years resolutions. My plan is to start work on this early to give myself a better chance of success.

Use the exercise bike. I had planned after my Health Check to jump on the home exercise bike three times a week for twenty minutes. This started well but after the two business trips I did, holidays and a few other feeble excuses I soon lapsed into not achieving my target. I have restarted my attempt.

Keep my foot off the clutch pedal when I am not changing gear. The weight of my foot partly depresses the clutch which means it is still engaged and will wear out prematurely. The car has a clutch foot rest to the left of the clutch so I need to park my left foot on it. My excuse if that the journey I do incurs a lot of frequent gear changing so...

Eat my lunch sandwiches at lunchtime. Anyone who knows me never sees me eat lunch. Why? Because the sandwiches made for lunch are very often eaten before I even leave for work. It is only the fact I carry no money on my Javacard that I don't go down and have another uneeded lunch at lunchtime.

Cut down on the extra home working. I was starting to read my email at 7am when I got my wife up. I think this is a bit early. So I know don't read my email until 8am. Thats an hour before my official start time. In the evening I allow myself two email reading sessions. After dinner ~ 6.30pm before I have a bath and at 8pm. The trouble is with this excellent Sunray at home its too easy to just flick the screen on and you are up and running. No boot up time at all.

Finally improve my spelling. So after drafting I need to look harder at my emails for obvious typos. Sometimes I look at replies to my original email and I am shocked at the typos I have left in. Looks very unprofessional. Time to improve that.

Wednesday November 16, 2005

One old one new - Two new Neil Young Cd's

While visiting friends over the last couple of months two new Neil Young albums have got our attention:

On the Beach which is an old album but only just released on CD.

Prairie wind which is the latest album of his after his recent illness. This album is not so immediate for me but after listening to it several times it is now a firm favourite. Neither are his best but worth looking out for anyway.