So this is modern art….and i love it……

I went to Tate Britian today and there was an exhibition by the artist Fiona Banner who has an interest in fighter aircraft, more details about her can be found on the Tate Britian website…..But she had two fighter aircraft on display today one was a Harrier and that was hung from the ceiling by its tail and in the traditional RN grey colour scheme, the aircraft was stripped of all extras including landing gear radar and weapons, also the interior was stripped bear too….It was impressive just hanging there and looked stunning please see the photos below as they do a better job than i can do…..

The next aircraft in the display was a Jaguar and this was amazing, it was laid on the deck upside down and all paint removed and it was back to the shinny bear metal and looked stunning…..Again all the extra’s had been removed and the replections in the bodywork were amazing…..This one was mind blowing and here are a few photograph’s as they will do a better job than i ever can……

  All that is left for me to say if this is modern art then i love it….this was amazing and i will be going to see it again especially as the exhibition is free….I now understand art and modern art and guess its like music and not to everyones taste but this wasnt the only artist to infulance me today……thank you….

Thank you for reading my blog……

Album Review………………Catching a Tiger by Lissie……

I have decided to change the theme of my blogs for a while and write some reviews on what I regard as the best albums in my collection…Guessing if  I did one a week I would be going until the end of time but not sure that would be a good thing and maybe I should review a few of the howlers I have bought too. There are a few in the collection that I have never listened to all the  way though not even once  just the once….But there are a few that got discarded on the  first play only to make it to the one of the best piles a few months later….

  As some of you are aware I have dyslexia and this is a struggle to write so unlike the usual newspaper/magazine review there will be no long complicated words and descriptions that I do not understand or make sense of…

  Today’s album is new to me and it only arrived last Thursday but already has left a huge impression on me….I was introduced to this music by @himupnorth from twitter on one of his blogs and the album is called ‘’Catching a Tiger’’ and is by Lissie who is an American, The sleeve notes describe it as folk/county/rock, she reminds me of Mindy Smith and Sheryl Crow a cross between the two but a lot lot better. I would call this rock more than I would call it folk or country so please don’t be put off by that…

  Best tracks have to be ‘Cuckoo’ where her voice comes through perfectly with the guitars and the lyrics are perfect and it’s a very catchy tune and I have to say this is the best track on the album with lyrics like ‘fire the  pickup truck that’s roars like a lion’’ in the chorus I just love that  and then the songs slows tight down for the Cuckoo and then the same lyrics are repeated at the end but much faster and heavier and to great effect. But it’s so hard to sort out what’s exceptional against what just plain sublime.

   Another song that stands out is ‘’Stranger’’ and this reminds me of someone but for the life of me I cant think but this is a lovely song too….The song does have a sad theme to it about bullying and domestic violence but again the guitar arrangement on this song is so different from the last song which is very refreshing to hear….maybe you could say at a stretch this song has a country feel to it…..

‘’Little Lovin’’ another gorgeous track slowed down and her vocals are outstanding and come across very clear and with just the right mix of drums and guitars but I must emphasize that her vocals are outstanding and you get to appreciate what a great voice this girl has…..Another track ‘’Angels’’ shows how good this girl is at singing as the song slows down and her vocals are perfect……and there is a fantastic deep drum in the background that adds to the atmosphere of the song….

  ‘’In Sleep’ is another superb track and  I just love the guitar solos at the end and this has a real rock feel to it, almost at 70’s classic rock and would have sounded great at the Hammersmith Odeon at that time for those of you old enough to remember…The stage came out like a pier in the middle and the guitarist would walk down to the end go down on his knees and play the solo, saw that a few times including a very good mickey take from Andy Partridge of XTC…..

Overall this is a fantastic album and well worth a buy and its available for £7.99 in cd format for people like me who still want to own an CD even if its only ripped to the computer and then added to the ipod never to be played again. At HMV.com or from Itunes store for £5.99 and it’s well worth buying….I hope you have enjoyed reading this review but I am quite confident that the album reviewers at NME have nothing to worry about as I won’t be getting a phone call….

Thank you for reading my blog…….

Wordless Wednesday………

A brief selection of some fish i photographed today….i have been trying for years and today was the best day but still not good enough and the best chance i had was a pair of Barbel and i missed it. Above is a nice sized Bream of about 7/8 pounds on the River Ouse in a weir Pool….

 If you look to the top right of this picture you can see a good sized chub in the same location as the Bream about 50 yards downstream on a gravel bar……

The above was taken about 5 miles upstream from the others and there was much more gravel so making photography easier…..If interested the fish are small Roach……

Thank you…………..

My Cycle Ride along the River Lea…….

On Tuesday  I went for a rather ambitions cycle ride along the River Lee, The day started with me taking my bike on the train to London and then onto the circle like to get across town to Liverpool street for another train to Waltham Cross and then a short cycle ride to the park at Waltham Abbey and then i had a short cycle round the park before checking the map and finding the nation cycleway number 1 and the route to central London…..I found the cycleway in the middle of a housing estate in Essex and after a few wrong times (lack of sign posts) I was on my way and I followed the river Lea heading south….The paths were good and there were some lovely parks and as I followed the river through another housing estate with no signs again and then onto the river towpath at Enfield locks…. and back to following the river again….I was dismayed to find a television dumped in the river and the river was very low too but I guess that’s due to the lack of rain this year…..This wasn’t the only television i found and as i got into central London there were black bin bags too….It’s not nice and a shame that people can’t take better care of where they live and the local environment. He are a few photos I took today while cycling along the towpath….I managed to ride from Waltham Abbey to St Pancras station along towpaths etc apart from the last 200 metres and about a half a kilometre when the Regents Canal goes under Islington….

   I dont have a clue what type of duck the one at the top is but there were five or six of them just ploding around on the bank….they looked like over sized ducks but i dont think they were…..The herons were funny i must have seen half a dozen and by the time i had set the camera up they had all flown apart from the top one that seemed to enjoy posing for me….I love Herons they are such graceful birds and look stunning but wish they would pose for me…..just once…

    Found the swan and her brood on a nest just before i reached Tottenham, the cygnets were very tame and were not bothered by me or my camera and there mother was very relaxed too…I am not sure where the father was as its so unusual to see the swan family with one of the adult members missing…..This part of the river was full of berthed barges and river boats and some were very odd looking and there were a couple of lovely looking Thames barges as well…

Then when  i was crossing Hackney Marches i came across this stunning tree not sure what it is but the colours were fantastic….

  I am sure the above is a domestic shrub that i found growing alongside the towpath today…..but for the like of me i cant remember the name and i have the feeling the berrys were out of season…The next picture is of the view from the Old Ford locks and this was my last view of the River Lea…..before i turned onto the Hertford Canel to head toward the Regents Canel….

  I came across this rather large barge on the Hertford canal and the crew were draging and guiding her through the bridge and along the canal as she was having problems with her steering gear. She was under her own power but with such a deep draft and a shallow canal the barge and prop were catching the bottom of the canal but they made it….

After this i passed Victoria park the first public park in England and opened in 1854 then turned right onto the Regents Canal and i made my  way to St Pancras apart for the diversion where the canal goes under Islington…it has been 16 years since i was last on  the towpath of the Regents Canal and how it had changed and for the better i might add…..I will do this cycle way again soon and spend more time exploring some of the areas i passed and then i do plan to do the length of the River Lea from Leagrave near Luton to the River Thames….

Thank you  for taking the time to read my blog……

A very proud Dad Blog………….

 

 

This is  Proud Dad blog…..Last Saturday my eldest daughter took part in a dance show at a local theatre and this is something that they have done every other year since she started dancing at  4 years old….She took part in 4 dances. Dance number 1 was ‘’Fight for this Love’’ and was a modern dance with music by Cheryl Cole and very good. Number 2 was Pretty Pointe with was a traditional Ballet and from where these photographs were taken. Number 3 was We love to Boogie and was a Tap number and very good its amazes me how they manage the moves….

 

     Number 4 was ”A star so Bright” which I believe to be a Take That song and this was a ballet number and the dancing was amazing. Having watched Laura over the years I can see how much she enjoys dancing and how much the dancing means to her. She starts collage in September to study dance full time and is very excited about her future and one day hopes to dance the English National Ballet…

 

       I  would just like to say  I am so proud of her and the dance was fantastic the best yet……Laura I am so proud of you and what you have achieved please don’t give up on the dream as I am sure you can make it to the top and you deserve to….well done…..

Now i have saved the best til last and this is the best photograph by far….also think i should mention she also loves to play rugby and is a very good full back and or scrum half….But i believe the two compliment each other so well……

Thank you for reading my  blog………….

Wordless Wednesday……..

This Photograph was taken after the war i guess and is of my Dad i recently got a copy of this photo from my cousin (who i only discovered last autumn) There are very few photos around with my Dad in i guess 3 or 4 and this is the best one by far….I have it in my Kitchen so i can talk to him daily….Unfortunatly he died in 1972 when i was 11 and i still miss him but am so happy to have this picture….The baby isnt me but the daughter of one of his brothers….

What A Week……..

 

This has been a rather strange week with loads going on…….

   Firstly I  thought I had the sleep problem under control but oh no it wasn’t and I have had a terrible week sleep wise with about an hour or so a night each night for the last week….I am shattered now but still not getting any  better and I have tried a number if things to try and help the situation but guess I  just have to put up with it for now…..I get tired but as soon as the head touches the pillow that’s it and I am wide awake and the harder I try to sleep the more awake I am…..I was so tired this week that I  even managed to publish wordless Wednesday in the early hours of Thursday morning as I was so tired I completely forgot about it on Wednesday…..

   Thursday saw a visit to the Oval with lads from work and it was a great evening to watch Surry vs Middlesex in a T20 game. Surry didn’t offer much in the way of attacking batting and made 120 for the 20 over’s but i did get to see Andrew Symonds knock a quick 19 off before he was caught….Middlesex soon got to the needed 121, but there was a spectacular catch taken by surrey and he caught the ball on the boundary managed to throw the ball up in the air crash over the rope regain balance cross back and catch the ball….amazing and right in from of me too….but I was a great evening and the weather was perfect and I guess there was a crown of 20,000 for the game….not sure I like the dancing girls on the outfield but all other aspects of the game were great and its a great for the cricket well worth going to see….

   Thank you to everyone who gave me ideas for my holiday and I now have loads of ideas and a itinerary is now taking shape and things are looking good…..I also bought a book on Amazon that details cycle routes around the capital so I am going to try some of those too…

   I have ordered a couple of new bikes one a mountain bike and one a road bike through the cycle to work scheme at work….I have decided to conquer my fear of cycling as I have struggled to cycle as much as I used to since I had a nasty accident in December 2008 that left be badly hurt and badly treated by the Northamptonshire police….I was hit by a Police Officer who was off duty who was at fault but because of who he was etc he was never held to account never interview neither was I or the witnesses and when I made a complaint that was fobbed of and that wasn’t investigated properly and I have to admit I believed that when I made the complaint I would get a fair hearing this wasn’t to be….Things happened that I thought would never happen in this country when it comes to the Police Service….I am left angry but one day I may publish the full story on my blog….

  The bike saga has been a pain thanks to Halfords who gave me a quote originally and a price and said they would take a company cheque….So off I went with my cheque and they had changed the rules and wouldn’t take a cheque but said try on line and they would then build the bikes for me in store….I did this and that failed as they bikes I wanted were not available to me online and only in store so work gave me a cheque made out to me and I cashed it and paid cash that way and i ordered the bikes this last Tuesday and they promised to have them ready for me on Saturday morning. One of the bikes was in Coventry but the chap in the store new a manager there and arranged to have this bike sent to the Wellingborough store. So come Saturday morning i went down to my local store to collect and to my horror both bikes were not ready and one is still in Coventry….So it was agreed that both Bikes would be ready for 1pm this afternoon so off I went again expecting one to be ready and I was so right…Just the one and the other still in Coventry awaiting collection….However there were apologies this time and I was assured that it would arrive in store on Monday and I was also promised £50 of gift vouchers for my trouble and they agreed if they failed to meet the deadline tomorrow I would get an upgraded bike….Having seen the upgraded bike I am kind of hoping they miss the deadline, i know that a horrible thing to say but it’s the way I feel……

  Now work was kind of interesting this week too, a  little on the busy side with a major problem coming to like on Wednesday afternoon and upon further investigation has happened more times than you can imagine so far this year…..The provider of this service was convinced  that it was not there problem but in the end I was able to prove that it was and off they went to looking further into the problems….However this was a problem I had expected to happen and for years I had been warning people that this would happen but got no help of assistance until the shouting happened on Wednesday afternoon….But as I explained to everyone there is no point shouting and blaming lets work together to make sure that this does not happen again…..

   Yesterday was My eldest daughters day in the limelight, she loves dance and loves ballet and so you get the full picture is also a rugby player….but she has dance classes once a week and the dance school she goes too yesterday held they show in the local theatre and it was amazing…..I was so proud of her and she was stunning and I could see all the effort that she puts into dance coming through during the show….She did so well and I am so proud of her….

That concludes my week and thank you for reading my blog……

Wordless Wednesday…………..

7/7

As you are aware yesterday was the 5th anniversary for the terrorist incidents on 7th July 2005 in London on the underground and bus services…….I was around that day but missed an incident by minutes in the Aldgate area, so that was a relief…..
But I wanted to moan as I don’t understand something…..Everyday I pass a plaque at King Cross St Pancras station to those who died at that Station that day but yesterday flowers were laid by the plaque but a steel screen was placed round the flowers and plaque so that no one could see the plaque and flowers. I have no idea why this was done or what was hoped to be achieved by this and I felt it was a great shame………….

Thank you for reading my blog…..

Help Please i have two weeks off and dont know what to do……

 

Just a quick one this week….(think the heat is getting to me and I am struggling with ideas to write about)…..but this week’s blog is to ask all my readers a big favour…..

  In two weeks time I have two weeks of work and this is my first break for over a year probably nearly 18 months and I don’t have a clue what to do where to go or whether I should just spend the time sleeping and reading….don’t want to do that really.  I want to get out and do something (this isn’t easy as I am very shy and lacking in confidence especially after what’s happened in the last 2 years it’s difficult to get out and about and face seeing other people)…(when life has so many ups and downs I seem to get more of the downs at the moment and would love to change this)…so I am asking for suggestions of places to go, places to visit etc….I have asked a few people already and got zero suggestions so I am hoping for a bit more here……PLEASE…and not too expensive!!!!!…I live in Northamptonshire and have free unlimited rail travel to London….But would love some suggestions and ideas…..then will post blogs about the days out with photos……

    Thank you in advance for your suggestions and ideas and thank you for taking the time to read the blog…..