when the Bell Ends......

hi there

for some peculiar reason, certain parties are trying to hold these two responsible for all that is wrong with the world of heavyweight boxing.




the Klitschko brothers hold between them all the variants of world champion that currently exist. and they have earned them, to be honest. why world boxing being in a weak state is down to them i cannot work out - they are not responsible for the farcical red tape and poor admin from the various "governing bodies" and they are certainly not at fault for the lack of credible opponents.

why they bother to keep going in the sport must be down to a great passion. they try to be respectable and are indeed passionate about the sport, but whenever a big bout is lined up - particularly, i am sorry to say, against British fighters - they for some reason seem to get painted as the bad guys.

and, of course, rubbish like this happens.




not content with his pre-match girlie slap, for some reason, and i use this in the broadest sense possible, 'title contender' Chisora decided to spit in the face of Vitali Klitschko. how pathetic. i, nor anyone else, would not have had a problem if Klitschko called in the ref at that point and had Chisora thrown out of the ring. did the lad want a title shot or not?

as for the actual bout itself, well, Klitschko clearly had the better of it, but he did not knock out this Chisora fellow. quite odd, as Chisora had, i am led to believe, lost 3 of his previous 4 fights with considerable ease and comfort.




again, this idea that's circulating that somehow the Klitschko brothers are responsible for all the flaws in boxing at the moment is crazy. if they are not knocking out opponents, after all, then there is every chance that they themselves can be beaten. the, for the want of a better word, "best" if Britain's boxers could not do this, one wonders what has happened to the supply of legendary, great and formidable American heavyweights.




the other British heavyweight not to be knocked out by a Klitschko was, of course, loudmouth David Haye. he was at the bout commentating, but of course it is his antics after the event which caused some interest. it could be for that "incident" as to how and why you have found this page, wanting to read more.




with many thanks to the BBC for providing this, here is the transcript of the sorry, sad and indeed pathetic events which happened at the press conference after the bout. well, sorry, sad and pathetic, but also mildly amusing.



Bernd Boente, manager of Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko: With the bad experience we've had with British fighters, we will now look for other countries. Contrary to David Haye, Dereck Chisora really went for it. He really tried.

David Haye (from rear of the room): You don't want to fight David Haye, no?

Boente: You had an offer. You didn't accept it. Now you are out. You are out. Out, out, out. You cannot talk yourself back into the fight; you have no belts. Chisora showed heart, contrary to you. You showed your toe [referring to Haye's toe injury].

Haye: I accepted your offer in December.

Dereck Chisora: We'll get it on in London - be quiet. David Haye is an embarrassment, Sky Sports don't do Box Office any more because of David Haye. He messed it up for all those young fighters coming through. I'm going to give you two slaps for that. If Haye is a fighter, he should fight me.

Haye: You've lost three fights in a row (actually three of his last four).

Chisora: Let's fight.

Chisora's promoter Frank Warren: I've got a great idea. If Dereck fights David, the winner fights Vitali.

Boente: Sounds like the perfect plan.

Haye: Vitali said he could knock me out, do you think you can knock me out?

Chisora's trainer Don Charles: Be quiet, can security get him out of here?

Haye: Vitali said after his last fight, 'I want to fight David Haye'. Where is he now? He said he wanted to fight me, I agreed the money, I agreed everything in December.

Chisora: How's your toe? How's your toe? How's your toe?

Haye: You've lost your last three fights, you lost to Tyson Fury. You're a loser.

Chisora: Tell that to my face. I'm coming down, tell that to my face.

Chisora leaves his seat and approaches Haye at the back of the room, where a melee ensues. Haye at one point picks up a video camera tripod and swings it.




The two are eventually pulled apart before Chisora returns to the front of the room.

Chisora: (Shouting and indicating towards Haye). He glassed me. I swear to God, David, I am going to shoot you. I am going to shoot you. I am going to physically shoot David Haye. He glassed me. He glassed me. He glassed me. I'm not having it. He glassed me.

Haye's trainer Adam Booth approaches Chisora, his head bleeding.

Chisora: (Referring to Booth's cut) I'm sorry about that. Adam, your fighter glassed me.

Booth: I want to know who glassed me.

Chisora: As you were trying to hold your fighter away, he [Haye] probably glassed you by mistake.

Booth: You hit me with a bottle.

Chisora: David had a bottle in his hand.

Booth: No, no, David didn't hit me with a bottle. I want to know who glassed me. Someone hit me with a bottle.



The two are separated before Booth addresses Vitali Klitschko.

Booth: Vitali, you are a great fighter but your manager is an embarrassment to the sport. Congratulations for winning.

Chisora: (Addressing Booth) Either we do it in the ring or outside of the ring. Because I want him. If David don't fight me, Adam, I am telling you the God's honest truth, I am going to physically burn him. So you tell him I said that. I am going to find him.


i really do not blame the Klitschko brothers for wanting to have nothing to do with British boxers ever again, and i really wouldn't be surprised if they just threw in the towel on the whole thing. world heavyweight title bouts used to be massive world events; now it seems they are a thing that just happens and tend to get surrounded more by circus clowns than theatrical events.

one can only hope that the sport gets some semblance of respectability again one day, but it doesn't appear to be on the calendar just yet.


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the further childcare techniques of Grandad....

hi there


well, first off, if required, apologies for the delays in updates. i have been "busy", despite being on leave. my days have been filled with various official and government departments, mild shopping and serious car service time. in regards of the latter, the bill to get a car fixed up and serviced before anything actually falls off seems to be higher than if you just wait for something to break, so cheers for that tip everyone.

anyway, a quick update whilst i have five minutes. as you will no doubt have clocked, Grandma and Grandad went off to New Zealand for a bit. not only did Gillian and Grant let them back in the house (OK, Grandma is not a problem) but they took the interesting, perhaps unusual, decision to let Grandma and Grandad (the latter in particular) look after Katie and Daniel. the results of this were as unusual as ever.

first off, as you are aware Grandad likes grandchildren to be quiet and more or less out of his way. his efforts to get his grandchildren to comply with this seem to have hit a literal new high.




yes, that's Katie, quite tied up and some distance from the ground. i can only imagine Grandad did this then went for a stroll around Auckland, looking for a betting shop and no doubt being solicticed for "friendship" from a couple of sailors. it is, after all, his way.

no doubt Grandma got involved at some point and freed Katie, much to the disappointment of Grandad.

let it not be said, though, that Grandad is entirely unreasonable. he can compromise every now and then, if he is in the mood to. Katie and Daniel, it seems, wanted to play on the trampoline but could not do so unless they were supervised by Grandad. Grandad, it would seem, wanted to have a nice nap instead. whereas those two do not strike one as being possible to do at the same time, he did find a way.




yes, i am sure Katie and Daniel were thrilled to just sit still and listen to snoring instead of jumping up and down!

i have, as you might guess, about 400 pictures here of the trip to New Zealand, including some that should enthrall fans of amateur Japanese Ocean Swimmers. i will get around to putting them all up, but in the mean time here's Grandad looking rather pleased with his pioneering parenting techniques, and Grandma keeping quiet and pretending not to notice.




i wil try and do a few more later, but it could well be that you shall all have to wait a few days for some more updates, there's an important event to celebrate, apparently.......


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Colonel at The Colonel

hi there

many thanks to a very dear, longstanding friend who prefers a degree of anonymity online for this fab picture.

have a look at who is having some KFC!




well, where else would The Colonel go to eat? i am not entirely sure who the young person is sat with him, mind.


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a Valentine treat

hi everyone

well, circumstance meant that today i had the chance to pop in at South Fork. the intention was to say hello Mum & Dad and welcome them back from their latest shenanigans over in New Zealand.

here's the site i was welcomed with.



yes, that's Dad, in his underwear, pottering about on the phone. this mid-life crisis of his gets more and more interesting. at least, as Richard and Erika pointed out, he at the moment bothers to put pants on.


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

drive

hi there

well, a quick check of my own site suggests that the last time i sat and watched a full, new film was last November, such is the way of life. oddly, that one featured Ron Perlman too, as did the one i was able to see at the weekend. a pure co-incidence i assure you, not that there is anything wrong with Ron.

as i had an afternoon to myself i thought it best to try and catch up with at least one movie from a long list of films i wish to see, and where better to start than with the much celebrated Drive? for those unfamiliar with the title, well up front it's a film that many have described as being if not the best then one of the best two films of 2011, and there is general confusion, outrage and anger that it failed to register so much as a nomination at the imminent Oscars. well, Oscars are a dangerous measure for the quality of films (Stanley Kubrick did not get one for directing ever, Mel Gibson has one or two for Braveheart of all things), but the protests about it not getting any recognition meant that it deserved a mention.

for those looking for a quick, spoiler-free review, here it is - Drive is one of the most exceptional films i have ever seen and, presuming you have a tolerance for some extreme onscreen violence, i advise you to see the film as soon as possible. for those looking for more detail, carry on reading after the poster but be warned for **** SPOILER WARNINGS **** are applicable from here on out.




the plot centres on an unnamed protagonist (Ryan Gosling) who appears to be more of a master than a jack of all trades. he is a gifted mechanic, a stunt driver for movies and indeed a part-time getaway driver for movies. he appears to lead a life of solitude, mostly in silence, until chance meetings with his neighbour (Carey Mulligan) breeds a dangerous attraction owing to his neighbour's life (her husband is due to be released from prison soon), drawing him into a world where his solitude, silence and skills are tested to the full.

if all of that sounds somehow familiar, well, it is really. although ostensibly based on a 2000s published book by James Sallis, this film basically channels the very finest of lone, anti-hero protagonists. up front, Gosling is known and listed only as The Driver, as was Ryan O'Neill in the film The Driver, which can be seen as little more than a nod to how much this film owes to that 70s classic. beyond that, Gosling's character appears to share the same willingless to silently deny a past as was the case with Eastwood's character in A Fistful Of Dollars and to a lesser extent Pale Rider, as well as the proclivity to cling to some form of human contact at whatever personal cost as was the case with Mel Gibson as the titular character in Mad Max 2.




throw in the above films and a couple of Steve McQueen classics, The Getaway in particular, and you have the basic components of the film. and yet, somehow despite this and the obvious nods (there's a part, without giving too much away, that is a direct reference to Ryan O'Neill's famous "audition" scene in The Driver) it stands very much as its own thing. it does this by pretty much removing the obvious definition or interpretation of the title of the film rather early on.

let us get this clear - those of you hoping for a Mad Max or even The Fast And The Furious type of thing are in for one major disappointment. Outside of two scenes, the fact that The Driver is an expert driver is all but irrelevant to the film. The focus of the word drive in the film Drive is very much what drives one to do what they do in life, and how they take that ride.




underlining this is the distinctly minimalist approach taken. Gosling's character is indeed the strong, silent type (a threat of violence some 40 minutes into the film is more or less the first thing he says in the film beyond an opening monologue), and this to a noticeable extent extends across the whole narravtive. nothing is ever particularly hammered out or made clear for the audience, but that's not to say it is one of those ambiguous, "open to interpretation" and indeed confusing films. far from it - it's all rather linear, and pretty straightforward to understand.

this is all made possible by rather deft, exquisite and dare i say beautiful film-making by director Nicolas Winding Refn, and indeed the supporting cast.




Drive relies on a second person narrative, provided by in part Carey Mulligan, but perhaps mostly by the characters played by Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman. to focus on those two first, and my what a superb slice of casting this turns out to be. these two play somewhat lightweight but rather dangerous mobsters, pushing for the big time and, through as it turns out different ways, are reliant on The Driver to both make the bigger money and stay alive.




as good as those two are (well, OK, Albert Brooks is excellent, Ron Perlman 'does his job', as it were), the real driver of the story has to be Carey Mulligan's character. she has been quoted as saying that she felt all she did in the film was "hang around and stare longingly at Ryan Gosling", but there's a good deal more to her performance than that. far from being the stereotyped "girl who the protagonist likes" part, her character has a good deal of substance and strength and required a strong, outstanding performance to make sure the whole story gets told properly. this Ms Mulligan does with some formidable talent. i am unaware of seeing her in anything else, i shall certainly be looking to see more of her films.




as for the lead actor, well, i cannot claim to have seen Ryan Gosling in anything before, at least i certainly do not remember him being particularly outstanding. Drive changes all of that. he is superb, giving one of the finest acting performances i have seen for a very long time indeed. i dare say lazy critics have dismissed him as simply "channelling Eastwood and McQueen" in respect of being the solitary, silent protagonist, but doing that sort of thing and making it your own is not the easiest thing in the world to do. if the others i mentioned tell the story, then it is Gosling's performance which makes the film what it is. he creates a plausible protagonist with the minimalist approach and is rather engaging. the audience feels and experiences every slice of the good and the bad that happens to him, something rare these days.




the main controversy around the film appears to be the level of violence in it. to be honest, there are not all that many violent moments in the film (certainly not what i had been led to expect, at the least), but when they do occur they are abrupt, stark and unapologetic. most of the violence is further implied rather than seen, but such is the shock value of the moments that they happen it feels like you've seen something you have not - Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs did the same, and indeed courted the same controversy.

a few reviews i have seen suggest that the violence "has no place" in he film and thus appears to be gratuitous, but my leaning is to disagree with that. we do not know, after all, what sort of past The Driver has fled to be where he is when we meet him, and the other central characters, to various degrees, have a history of violence (either implicit or exposed) that comes with them. some of the sequences are certainly difficult to watch, but i would dismiss all claims that they are just there in the film for the sake of it.




was it the violence that led to this fine, fine film being more or less snubbed by the members of the Oscars? most likely yes it was, really. i see that Drive was initially going to be directed by Neil Jordan and feature Hugh Jackman in the lead. just how bad that version would have been is anyone's guess, but you can be pretty sure that those two industry favourites would have made sure that the violent content was toned down just enough to the level of making it hopeful Oscar bait.

for me the Oscars have become of increasing irrelevance since they started awarding horrid, awful films like American Beauty and The Hurt Locker for purely political and vanity reasons. if the awards really were a true reflection of the best films of any particular year then this one would feature very strongly on the list of nominations. let them get on with celebrating Spielberg, Clooney and Pitt for being really nice people who make lots of money; film lovers will instead know that this is a true classic of cinema. i suspect i will have to seek out and watch the dire sounding list of nominated movies just to see in what way they are somehow better than Drive.




i suspect that if you have read all of this there is no need for me to say "you really should try and see this film if you have not done so already". the praise and acclaim placed on this film is worth every single letter of it. bravo to all involved, i look forward with some considerable interest to seeing what the actors and indeed the director do next.


in closing, one thing bugging me is exactly who the mask is of that Ryan Gosling needs to wear at one point in the film. i cannot find any further information about the mask on the internet, so have to ask here. have a look at thos screenshot of it.




who does that look like to you? my initial reaction is that this is a facemask of no less than Tom Cruise, possibly for the character he played in the magnificent Tropic Thunder. who do you think it might be if not the Cruiser?


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what is love, anyway?

hello

well, Howard Jones famously asked the above question in a classic 80s tune, although Jason Donovan asked it even better in a recent cover version. does anybody love anybody anyway?, both further asked. the answer, going on the evidence from the excellent awkward family photo site, is one that comes in the form of yes, yes they do.

what is love, anyway? well, love it seems would be appreciating that chainsaws are a many excellent and splendid thing, and should be on display whenever possible.




love is also a mutual hobby, passion even, beyond each other. it could be the thing that drew two people together to start with. like, for instance, a rather interesting use of cats.




love is certainly enjoying certain films together. one of the best films i ever saw, even if it is not exactly a mainstream release, would be California Cowgirls. if i tell you that the protagonist of the film is one Bronco Johnny Hardon you can probably guess the nature of the film. i am glad to see that someone else liked it, at least to the extent of recreating the look, feel and ambience of it.




nice to see that they remembered to include a jug of redeye there, just like the one that Bronco Johnny chugs on as he....erm, let's try and keep this sort of suitable for families and leave it there.

well, should Jason or Howard still be asking, there are some answers for them. as for anyone else, if this has given you some ideas for the imminent celebration that is Valentine, go wild!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

what New Zealand is waiting for

hi there

well, if you are using that google thing and have found this, let me say up front that there has been no announcement of The Stone Roses playing in New Zealand and i have no knowledge or information about any plans they have to go there. it is likely that they shall wish to visit there and of course Australia, but no confirmed plans yet.

what i do know, however, is that the people of New Zealand are quite keen on the idea, going on the pictures i have seen. take, for instance, this image of Gillian and Daniel.




you can clearly see that the two of them are imagining they are sat in Heaton Park, waiting for one of the all time greatest bands (of all time) to come on the stage and weave their magic. for what other reason is it that Gillian would wear a classic Reni hat, after all?

Stone Roses related activities are not limited to just imagining they are at a gig, either. here's Grant having a bit of a familiar looking stroll.




did you spot it? yes, that's right, Grant is clearly trying to evoke images of the celebrated video for Fools Gold in the above. not content with that, he and Gillian had a bash at creating the epic walk on the mountain sequence from the same video!




it is good to see Katie getting in on the act too, going on the below picture.




she must unmistakably be singing along to I Am The Resurrection or perhaps even Made Of Stone in that picture, and doing a pretty good Ian Brown impersonation too. this is all the more impressive since Gillian has previously refused to let her children or anyone she knows listen to The Stone Roses.

and, for good measure, here's Daniel once more, wearing a Reni hat with pride and clearly waiting for the groove of the vibes to kick in.




nice one, good to see that if The Stone Roses go to New Zealand, the people are ready!

now, since images from New Zealand tend to be scarce, you may be wondering who it is that sent these ones on. well, here is a clue.




and if you want further clarification on that clue, i have taken the above picture and drawn your attention to a big hint.




the last time i saw those red shoes, right, they were sat outside South Fork, looking like various animals had taken turns on mauling or quite possibly molesting them. further, they looked like someone had taken a tube of glue to them in the optimistic hope that it might have fixed them up. i am not sure if they are the same ones or if for some reason he has bought more, but there you go!

a great many more pictures to follow!!!!!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thoughts and reflections on very nearly seeing Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace in 3D at the weekend

hi there

well, despite not particularly liking the experience of going to the cinema (this bit is somewhat important to remember later), James was very excited about the fact that Star Wars was being re-released at the movies, albeit in this gimmick "3D" nonsense. i was thrilled too - i loved the idea of being able to take James to see these great movies on the big screen, even if it involved wearing silly glasses.




how excited was James? well, he spoke of it all week, and on the morning that we were to go, he was up rather early, reminding me that we had to have breakfast and then get going. this we did, and got to the cinema in good times.

James' enthusiasm did not wane when we got there. in fact, it increased a great deal as we got popcorn, coke and these silly glasses to wear!




getting to the outside of the cinema theatre was no problem either, as James was thrilled to see the poster for one of his favourite movies.




and then we went inside the theatre.....and promptly left! James, alas, really does not care for the huge size of a cinema screen. he finds it all rather intimidating and gets rather frightened of the idea of watching something on it. so we left, and the cinema very kindly gave us vouchers to come back another day.

ho hum. despite not exactly being my all time favourite Star Wars film i was rather looking forward to seeing it again, in particular the Liam Neeson parts, which seem oddly absent from the poster for the re-release. just not to be, i guess, and we can always just watch the DVD again!

if you went to see it, i hope you got to see considerably more of it than i did!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

another truck stuck....

hi there

just in case you thought it was in jest that i say trucks blocking off the highway is at least a weekly incident here, well, here's what we have today.




sadly no branding to allow me to name and shame, but the short version is the blue thing you can see is attached to a bakkie / pick up truck. it has been sat there for well over an hour, with the driver making little/no effort to move it. along comes a big truck, clips it and manages to stall and be stuck there. brilliant.

i really do think pulling these drivers out of the vehicles they have no idea to drive and giving them a sound, full beating would soon bring an end to it.


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!

at the zoo

hi there

at the weekend, somewhat out of the blue of the mildly grey skies we had, James asked if we could possibly go and have a walk around the zoon on Sunday afternoon. this seemed like a rather good idea, and so off we went. rather fortunately we timed it inbetween a slight bit of dizzle and one almighty thunderstorm, which was a bonus!

as he is big and walking now the trip was somewhat easier as there was little point in taking a pushchair for William. on the plus side it meant he could walk and run as he pleased; on the downside he can also climb too and was very eager to get somewhat closer to the animals!




for an idea of which of the animals he wanted to get close to, and just how close we were to them anyway, here's a friendly looking Siberian Tiger that appeared to be encouraging William in his quest to climb over and "play".




the panthers, too, seemed very keen for William to come and join them!




of course, one of the most excellent things that James and William saw were the meerkats on display, busy as they were either standing patrol or digging away in the ground. the boys were very tempted to climb in and join them, but Michele did her best to ensure that they did not!




and on that note, my apologies for no picture of any of the meerkats themselves here. i know i took some, but i appear to have forgotten to bring them along and upload. whoops!

as for James, whose idea it was to go along in the first place, well he sort of enjoyed all the animals, but it seems that it was more the other stuff to do there that he was keen on. like, for example, going on the "bat pole" on the jungle gym there!




despite the presence of a most excellent jungle gym there, the boys of course decided to turn everything into a climbing frame of sorts, in particular the table where we were sat trying to eat lunch!




as you can see, though, William does not tend to allow some climbing to get in the way of his drinking and eating!

other than that, to keep them entertained there was the small matter of an ace bouncy jumping castle.




the boys went wild on this, with as you can sort of see William trying to imitate everything that his big brother did!




not always with great success, mind!

well, what can i say but what an absolutely top, great idea James had there! i wonder what he shall suggest for the next weekend?


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jack White's sort-of solo debut.....

Hi there

well, the first truly interesting music release of 2012 is almost upon us. in what is being billed as "Jack White's solo debut", a new 7" single from one of the most interesting musicians from the last or quite frankly any decade is out on Monday 13 February 2012.

at first the reports were you could only order it from Jack's own website store thing, which you can find by clicking these words, but now it seems that the excellent Record Store also has it for order. not one to mess about, i have it on order from both. i would suspect that the Record Store one shall land a good deal sooner than the one from the US, going on my experiences with orders from the American amazon store.




what does it sound like? no idea, really. apparently one can hear it on Jack's site (which you may already know if you've clicked on the link), but i have not given it a try. i really don't bother putting the speakers on much when it comes to the computer, and quite frankly as Jack is a well known opponent of compressed computer sound files i think i shall rather wait for one of the copies of the single to land.

as for this being billed as "Jack's solo debut", that's a touch cheeky. sure, the bulk of his material has been released as either The White Stripes, The Raconteurs or The Dead Weather, but it is not like there aren't any "Jack White" releases out there. for a start there's his ace Bond theme Another Way To Die (yeah, OK, that was sort of a duet with Alicia Keys, but the song is much better if you just ignore Ms Keys on it), and on top of that there's the 2009 solo single Fly Farm Blues, not to mention the songs he did for the soundtrack for the film Cold Mountain. if it amuses him to refer to this as his "solo debut", however, well so be it, so long as the music is as class as all that he has previously given to the world!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rock is dead?

hi there

i got an email from amazon today, recommending me some "hot new rock albums". to quote the mail directly :


Hello,

We've noticed you like rock music, so here's a list of the hottest rock albums now available to pre-order on CD.

cool, always interested to hopefully hear some new stuff. however, here's the best screenshot i could get (cheers, Word) of what it is they recommend :




two variants of a Paul McCartney album, two variants of the offerings from the re-re-re-re-reformed Van Halen, a Bob Dylan tribute album and a new one from Meat Loaf. oh, and two presumably "new" bands tagged on the end.

nothing wrong with any of the artists listed, but in the majority of cases they are hardly "new" are they? i am surprised they did not suggest i check out the new Ringo Starr album too.

what's going on? is there really that much of a lack of new, interesting rock acts that the old guard get to hog the limelight? or is it just that the "older" acts still sell CDs, whereas the new ones sell these cheap "download" things to "the kids"?

it's somewhat beside the point that i personally have enjoyed very little of this "new" music that my cousin Andrew insisted i try (please, Lord, let me not hear Everything Everything or Two Door Cinema Club ever again), but i kind of assumed i would be in some minority with that?

obviously the biggest release of the year for me shall be whatever it is that The Stone Roses have signed two record deals to release, but i am always hoping something new will come along to get me interested. not so far this year, it would seem.



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

low green snow

hey there

well, i understand that everyone in the UK is aware of the fact that it's snowing in that part of the world. indeed, further to that, it seems all and sundry with a camera (with phone or without) and access to the net and/or social networking account are posting pictures of the snow. the net may well be overloaded with such pictures, then, but let me at the least add one great picture from my Uncle Trevor, showing home in the snow.




i do not recall the last time i was there and saw the Beck frozen. it was probably around 88 or 89, though - i seem to recall some serious snow, cold and ice as i was writing my "mock" exams.

many thanks indeed to Trev for the picture, all the more impressive as i am led to believe he fell on his bottom around the time of taking it.


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

inspecting the grounds

hi there

well, if it's weekend then it must be time for a trip to South Fork. i took the boys along with me, which was rather brave since we stopped off to do some shopping first. in fairness, they did not leave me financially ruined in the toy shop, but they did come quite close when we went to the book shop.

anyway, on to the mysteries of South Fork. James was rather interested in a swim, but this was not to be. i am not sure if you can make it out in the picture, but the pool is presently substantially more green than usual. much to the amusement of the boys.




i gather getting belted by lightning does this to a pool. not sure really, i am no expert. it's certainly not something that happened with any great frequency to Stokesley Baths, i can tell you.

those with a keen eye may well have observed something in the clutches of William. that would be a tomato. not just any tomato, mind. it was one that he plucked from one of the numerous fridges of South Fork and promptly marched about with, chomping large chunks from it.




Grandma and Grandad shall no doubt be delighted to learn that, for the most part, i managed to clean up the trail he left! i bet they will not have even noticed all the places he managed to smear remnants of it anyway. woo woo, what a tomato, one might say.

not that tomato eating was all William got up to, of course. whereas James was delighted to sit and watch something on the TV, William went on a little adventure, which involved in particular going on a ride around the estate.




and, of course, going to have another look at the pool, only this time armed with a shield in case that helped sort it out!




i understand that a number of you probably quite like the low quality pictures this blueberry phone of mine produce, but others may be delighted to know i took some other pictures today with what one might call a "proper" camera, albeit a digital one. i shall put some of those up eventually.....

hope that you all either had or are presently having an ace weekend!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!