Folk Sessions Calendar

Ode to my Belly

Myself and a couple of other slightly gravitationally challenged persons (who shall remain nameless to spare their blushes) are planning a post-summer-holiday diet. I felt the need to celebrate my current manly (at least around the wiast) figure;

Ode to my Belly

Sing "Ho!" for the waist of Rob P.
It's girth maidens oft' swoon to see.
When offered a pud'n,
He'd chomp like like a good'n
'til full, zatch to guggle, was he.

Views from a train

I took these after a nice visit down to see Dad and Mary on the train. I have a suspicion that the other passengers thought they had a loony on their hands as I snapped away. I am going to have to make guesses as two where each of these were Approach to Dawlish Warren Just past Dawlish Warren Exeter Hopefully this is self evident

Whistle Practice

I thought that an audio diary of my fumbling attempts to improve my whistling might be a good idea. The results are here

Cycle route

Today, me, Peter and Adrian went on this excellent ride. Peter has optimized this route for maximum ascent, which left Adrian and I puffing a bit at times. Despite a nasty weather forecast, it turned out to be rather a nice morning.

Memories from a two-nighter in Cairo

Arrival

We've just landed, been herded into a shuttle bus, and approach immigration with our passports (and visas ordered in a panick two weeks ago). To my astonishment, there is a guy holding a card with our names on it. Seems he's here to help us get through customs and immigration, and heads straight towards the 'Diplomatic' queue. He briskly grabs our passports and studies them with ferocious concentration. Eventually he turns around and says 'I can't read this number'. The official writing on the visa is hard to decipher, so we all gather round and come to a consensus.

Punk Version of the Kesh Jig

Having played the Kesh Jig for years, I never expect to hear a punk song set to it, but it seems that "Salty Dog" by "Flogging Molly" is just that. Hear for yourself

Daring to Whistle

I've been following this really nice 'mutual self help' site for whistlers for a while. The idea is that you attempt to play the 'tune of the moment', which right now is 'Mug of Brown Ale'. At long last I have dared to post my version. I recorded it using a cheap PC microphone and the freeware audacity, which is really very good.

Flightless wasp (bee?) at Torrey Pines

Our charming docent (see previous post) pointed out this wee bee. I am afraid it's a bit fuzzy, but the darned thing never stopped moving.

Balboa Park, San Diego

We spent a really nice relaxing day wandering around Balboa Park, which is a kind of Italianate (Mexicanate?) place. Imagine a very large, warm, non-Welsh version of Portmeirion and you'll get a not particularly good idea of what it was like. We ate lunch with a man in a cowboy hat and a german who looked precisely like Robin Williams, which felt a little surreal. There was this rather nice hothouse, though this being San Diego it seemed not to be particularly sealed against the elements. More of a wind break than anything else. Our Hotel was this tall slim affair. At night, we would be woken up at about two AM by a great big train going past. The first warning was the dinging of the bells on the level crossings, followed by the stentorian honking of the train's whistle.

Torrey Pines State Park

We had a gentle stroll (which had been publicised as a 'vigorous hike') around the Torrey Pines State Park, escorted by a 'docent', who turned out to be a nice little Scottish lady with an endless fascination in all of the wildlife of the park. Her focussed enthusiasm was infective, and I had lots of fun trying to photo everything she pointed out, including the nondescript pile of twigs that was supposedly a rats nest. P.S. 'Docent' turns out to mean 'someone who teaches', and in the US seems to refer to volunteer guides. Never seen it used in British English.

Taking tea on (or in) Blackpool Sands, Devon

We had a nice weekend visiting Dad and Mary in Dartmouth, and had a grand tour of their spanking new home. On Sunday morning we met up for tea and beach food at Blackpool sands. After Tess and Sam had buried me up to the waist in the sand, Tess kindly went to get me a cup of tea. Most satisfactory. Of course, then it was time to emerge, and immediately fall over.

Cool Janice

The Smallest Room

At long long last we have our downstairs loo. A rather insignificant moment, you might think, but this means that at last all of our new built rooms is available for use. There are some tidy up jobs for the builders to do, but at last the end is in sight.

An Early Morning Walk on Eype Down, Dorset

Early on the second morning of our long weekend in Dorset, I had an irresistable urge to go out for a walk. My instincts turned out to be good, because it was the most beautiful morning imaginable. I walked up from our cottage to the ridge above that joins with Eype Down. From then on the views were absolutely superb both of the coast and inland. At one point on the walk I could look down at the cottage we were staying in, so I sent Tess a text to look out of the window and started waving. I later found out that everyone saw me. Very pleasing.

Who ate all the pies?

On the day after my birthday I had a feast of steak and kidney pie, courtesy of birthday benefactors Hannah and Andy. Yum Apologies for looking quite so completely barking in this picture.....

Engine Room 2

Engine Room 2
Originally uploaded by Brother Swampicus.

Engine Room 3

Engine Room 3
Originally uploaded by Brother Swampicus.

The engines cannie take it Cap'n !

Engine Room 1 Originally uploaded by Brother Swampicus.

Our utility room now looks like the engine room from Star Trek. I want to keep it exposed, like the Pompidou Centre - it has a beauty all its own.

New York Movies

New York Fire Engines I

These things kept honking their way past

New York Fire Engines II

The View from Rockerfeller Tower

Seee previous posts, nice view...

Squirrels in Central Park

New York from on High

The only thing I actually paid to do in New York was going up to the observation deck on the Rockerfeller Tower. As a piece of advice, forget the feeble video displays and history of the tower crap; take a deep breath, hand over your money and go straight up the lift (may Elisha Otis be thrice blessed, for he was the inventor of the device that makes lifts safe. Believe me, when you're going up to within a gnat's whisker of the height of the Empire State Building in one go, you want that gent's invention to work). The whole experience of getting up there is a properly American. Given that you've handed over a wodge of cash, they are absolutely determined to be nice to you. The two people who run the lift (clearly having only one would be impolite) both ask you where you're from and say how great that is, and you're generally Your Welcomed all the way to the top. Even the security guards at the top are actually rather amiable rather than terminally intimidating, which is how I perceive most US security guards. For this picture I did a picure taking swap with a couple. Very nice experience.

Grand Central Station

I very much enjoyed the fact that my very first taste of New York was Grand Central Station, which is rather more elegant than any of the London Stations (though I like those as well; they are grand in a slightly more gritty way). I did the full geek bit for these two pictures; set up my teeny tripod on a marble balustrade, set the camera on timer so that I wouldn't shake it when pressing the button, and snapped with no flash. I rather like the way that one or two people have blurred a bit...