27/11/2007 by Neil.

With the weather man predicting a glorious sunny weekend (he lied) we decided as we were free for the weekend to head over to the Island to see me mam, and get another section of the Island coastal path completed.

The coastal path is around 75 miles long, and we have been walking it in small ½ to 3 miles sections as part of various circular walks, which may be as much as 9 miles long. So far we have completed the vast majority of the 75 mile path, probably walking at least double that in the process.

Well last weekends section was a 6½ mile circular route starting and finishing at a well used establishment of ours, The Folly Inn.

Actual map of route walked

Coastal route walked so far (click image to enlarge)

Walking along the banks of the river Medina to the Island Harbour Marina, past the Ryde Queen Paddle steamer, which is as you can see is in sorry old state.

Would you believe it, that in my younger days, when I was a lot fitter, thinner, and had a good head of hair, I used to have many a good night out on her, when she was a very popular night club. The girls didn’t stand a chance. “How youuuu do-innnnn”.

Like me though, she hasn’t faired well, although her funnel has now fallen off, at least mine is still well and truly intact !!! Aint that right jen………jen …JENnnn

Anyway, moving on, we headed inland until where we saw this rather menacing sign on a gate. Must get one of these.

This was followed by a rather strange site in a field. It was like something from a 1970’s episode of Doctor Who. “The Invasion of the Killer Post-boxes”………

They fire high velocity letters as weapons. First class ones decapitate you, but second class ones only stun and leave you with a rather nasty black eye and the excess postage to be paid.

Nasty…….

But their evil plans were thwarted when the Doctor arranged a 48 postal strike. Hurrah. The Earth is saved.

Time to continue me thinks. We followed the route of the old Island railways, another successful closure from Beaching, and into The town of Wotton where we came across this wood carving.

I think they got Jen’s better side, don’t you ?

From here it was the long trek back to the Folly, passing this new designer Bus Stop.

Our feet were aching by this point, so it was tempting to wait for a bus, but we thought from the size of it, it was a bus stop for the vertically impaired only. Political correctness gone mad if you ask me.

And now as our adventurous treks ends we fall into the pub for our just reward. Big mistake sitting on that big comfy sofa though, as our eyes began to close……

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11/11/2007 by Steve.

Now this week has been a very busy social week. I cannot complain. Music has featured very highly and a family day out rounded it off very nicely.The music events started on Monday with the ‘Audience with Rick Wakeman’ gig. Fantastic it was and details have already been posted by Paul D on this blog. On Tuesday I saw ‘The Fray’ at Hammersmith. For those who don’t know who ‘The Fray’ are, they recently had a hit with a tune called ‘How to Save A Life’ (better know in our gaff as ‘How To Shave Your Wife’!). Good they were, too!

‘The Fray’ say ‘Hello Hammersmith!’

Then on Wednesday I took part in a focus group discussing a new ‘pop opera’ act in the mold of Paul Potts (’Britain’s Got Talent’ winner). An odd musical diversion.

Now on Thursday, I stayed in (!) while Ness went out…to a lady’s ‘Indulgence Evening’ - an event designed to raise money for the school. She indulged very well with the help of a few glases of champagne and struggled all day Friday! Then on Saturday, we had a family outing….

Who’s been to the Lord Mayor’s Show during their lives, then? Asking various friends this weekend, it would appear that most of us have at some time. And that ’sometime’ was probably when we were kids - usually when we were around 10 years old. So in keeping with tradition (which is what parades like the Lord Mayor’s are all about) this weekend was when Ruby and Louie got their (first) London ‘traditional’ experience.

Three lie-ins
We hadn’t actually planned to go. Ness only thought about it late Friday night, as a cheap way to get out of the house on Saturday. It was planned that I would take advantage of the empty house to get on with some work. But when I got up at 8.30am on Saturday (while they all slept-on) I realised they’d never get up town in time, or find a decent position to see it from. So I kicked them all out of bed, got them through breakfast etc….and by 10.35, we were all standing in a good position to watch the parade, behind St Paul’s! So much for work!

In the end, it really was good cheap fun. Thousands of people, hundreds of people in uniforms, odd pieces of miltary hardware, whistles, bunny ears, drums etc. Then we went to McD’s for lunch, paid a visit to the Tate Modern to look at ‘The Crack’ (go to the Tate website if you don’t know what I’m on about). We got home about 4pm, leaving time to ‘veg’ in front of the TV for an hour….

Lots of bands	St John’s Ambulance - on push-bikes!!!!

Don’t stop
But then I was off out again! Saturday night and this time to Wembley Arena, to see ‘Heaven and Hell’ - or ‘Black Sabbath’, in another guise. Although I went with Gary, Paul and Di were also there under their own steam, as were another couple of friends, who we bumped into on Wembley Park platform afterwards. Rock’n'Roll!

‘Heaven and Hell’ say ‘Hello Wembley!’

So what a week! I am definitely staying in all this week….I am… definitely. Until Friday anyway…..

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08/11/2007 by Paul D.

Monday evening was spent in the company of the original and finest keyboard wizard and grumpy (but very funny) old man, Rick Wakeman at his one-man show entitled ‘Rick Wakeman’s Grumpy Old Picture Show’ in the Swan Theatre in High Wycombe. I’d managed to secure tickets in the second row, right in the middle, so we could almost see his nasal hairs…..

Armed with a mini grand piano, a cluster of modern and vintage electronic keyboards, a projector screen, a lectern and a very long overcoat, Rick entertained us with stories from his life interspersed with ‘very rare footage’ of interviews with people who had influenced him and he had influenced, some silly gags and of course some incredible piano and keyboard playing.

The screen also showed recordings of other musicians playing that he played along with live, which is quite a technical feat. At various points, there were five Ricks on stage, two Gordon Giltraps, a rock band and a school choir!

Highlights of the show for me were ‘Merlin the Magician’, ‘Amazing Grace’ with Rick’s daughter Gemma on vocals, ‘Eleanor Rigby’ in the style of Prokofiev, and the ‘Injured golfer’ gag….

After the show was another big highlight for me. Rick appeared in the bar for a chat and signings, so I managed to get his squiggle on a few items of great historical importance. We had a bit of a natter and he explained why he was reluctant to agree to do any more massive world tours with YES, which is very sad news because if they do tour in late 2008 for their 40th anniversary (as has been strongly rumoured) it will undoubtedly be their swansong. We can only hope that a compromise is reached and a ‘final’ album and tour do actually come to fruition… It would be unthinkable for the band to end their incredible career without Rick.

By coinsidence, we found ourselves leaving the theatre at the same moment as our host. We continued chatting into the car park where a bemused old rocker came to a stop with a puzzled expression on his face. “Where the bloody hell did I put my car?” he quizzed. Di couldn’t help herself and let out a big belly laugh which echoed around the deserted multi-storey. Our hero appeared slightly less than impressed. Eventually, with a little help from us, he managed to locate his big green car on the level below, so all was well and we could chuckle our way homeward.

Definately another grand success from the YES family, and Di, Steve, Nix and Dave all said they really enjoyed it too. Thanks for coming along guys.

P.

  Rick punishes the keys.

  What a bod, eh girls?

  At the bar.

  Steve couldn’t wait to get an autograph…..

  Old mates?

Posted in Music | 2 Comments »

04/11/2007 by Steve.

So did everyone have a good night on Saturday? It would appear so. Another bash at the Usual Suspects entertainment HQ lingered on until 4am so I guess we were all enjoying ourselves! For the benefit of those who, unfortunately, could not be there, you missed a great chilli and lots of beer and wine. Other highlights included the letting-off of a rather large firework in the back garden… and Paul D just letting-off. There was also a rather surprising impromptu performance by Rob - with only a frankfurter for a prop!

Thanks to every one who helped out:

- Food provided by Ness.
- Firework provided by R and P
- Frankfurters provided by Sainsburys
- Fresh air provided by God

Finally, a pictorial record of the event…

Cheers, Steve

Posted in Beer | 4 Comments »

02/11/2007 by Paul D.

We had a nice couple of days in South Wales last weekend, tearing up some tarmac, eating, drinking (yeah, really!) and raising a few bob for the Born Free Foundation.

There were about 30 cars, most with two people, so a nice social. The weather was crap and the roads were damp which meant the rooves had to stay up until late Sunday morning, when the sun finally broke through, the roads dried up, and the right feet were allowed to become a little more enthusiastic…..

Di took first prize by popular vote in the weekend’s photo competition, winning an iPod Shuffle, with this, which pretty much summed up the feel of the weekend…..

On the Friday night, we were in the second row in a theatre in Dartford to see the brilliant ‘Fragile’ with very special guest, guitar virtuoso Steve Howe of YES doing a solo acoustic set and then joining the band for a few YES numbers.

Steve and the band were certainly on absolute top form and the highlight for me was their rendition of ‘Soon’, the closing movement from ‘Gates of Delirium’, which featured Steve on pedal steel guitar. The piece was beautifully executed, and performed with a passion and grace that even the full YES lineup would’ve been more than proud of.

I guess you guys probably wouldn’t understand, but for me that was truly a little piece of heaven….

P.

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