Hot Chicks

A busy day or two. Today the Coles headed out to Honeybourne near Broadway and checked out a variety of chicken houses as we are to start keeping a couple of hens in our back garden soon. We’ll probably plump for a ‘Half Pint Penthouse’ which should provide a decent place for a pair of Black Rocks (see picture) to live in. Excitingly, these hens are prolific layers and could produce, as a pair, well over 500 eggs a year. I can think of few things more pleasing than tucking into a couple of boiled eggs, freshly laid in the back garden by two contented pets.

Gloucester, it appears, may have narrowly lost to Castres this evening in a tournament in France. I must confess that rugby football matters have passed me by recently. Murmurs on internet guestbooks continue to depress me somewhat. The latest causes for mass despair seem to be the changing of the badge on the team shirts and, this week, the unveiling of new unhooped kit. I can cope with both changes. Those up in arms over the new crest have shortish memories as I don’t think the team used to wear a crest until recently. In my early days at Kingsholm the lads used to wear a simple shirt with no embellishment whatsoever. I also feel folk fail to realise that we have absolutely no say what the players wear on the pitch as the club is owned lock and stock by Tom Walkinshaw after supporters overwhelmingly voted that the bloke should be able to do so. I’d rather the players wore cherry and white hoops but I’ll cope with a new modern look if the abject performances of last term are banished and results improve. Frankly, in these difficult times, there are more important things to worry about.

Watts Per

In a moment of consumer lust I bought a fabulous speaker system for my MP3 player yesterday. The manager of Dixons (sadly I couldn’t wait patiently and buy online) furnished me with item after item to plug my Creative into and test for loudness and greatness and eventually I plumped for the doughnut shaped beauty, a JBL OnStage, that is pictured above. It is only a tiny thing really but, by heck, it makes a wonderful noise. I love it very much.

This summer I have started working part-time (and on a voluntary basis) for Oxfam in Gloucester mainly because it keeps me busy but also because they posted an advert in their window asking for people to help redo their book department. They have a large warehouse of books ‘out the back’ and today I ruthlessly set about ‘culling’ (Oxfam’s word) the shelves of older stock and replacing it with higher quality and more sellable stuff. It was marvellous fun and the time flew by. At the end of my stint, the shelves were packed with lots of my favourite writers (Ian McEwan, John O’Farrell, Malcolm Bradbury) where earlier the likes of Maeve Binchy and Catherine Cookson had nestled dully. The staff were friendly and quite a mix. This afternoon a fallow seventeen year old lad in the warehouse tried to get me into Motley Crue and Green Day by playing me their hits loudly. Rather condescendingly I explained that ‘I was there’ for the original punk rock but must admit to surreptitiously tapping my toe to ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ by Tommy Lee and company as I priced up my next batch of modern literature.

The Sun!

These pages have been a tad neglected recently but I have nothing really exciting to report.

I vowed not to touch the blessed things but I have been sucked in and now am ever-so-slightly hooked and am developing a bit of a habit. I am talking about Su Doku puzzles. I have been a bit sniffy about these things mainly because, as an admirer of chess and crosswords, I have felt they lack a certain depth in comparison. I think that does hold true still but they represent a fine mental challenge and I enjoy tackling them. I have two Su Doku books and took one to a child’s party at the weekend so I could sit in the corner and cogitate. One mum spotting this, asked me if I, like her, had a go at the Su Doku puzzles in The Sun every day. I don’t think she realised that they also appear in most of the broadsheets too. I politely replied in the negative and made a mental note: Sun reader.

I am listening to the new Brian Eno album, Another Day on Earth a good deal. In fact, I’m playing it to death. It is a subtle item and it needs a few plays to fully appreciate its layers and profundities. Eno is certainly an artist I have to seek out and learn more about. The tag of ‘ambient pioneer’ is often given to the fellow and I am sure much of his back catalogue would be right up my street.

Capital

Yesterday was fun and certainly unusual. My dear son and I travelled to London Town by charabanc and were treated to a wonderful personal tour of both chambers of the Houses of Parliament by Stuart and Chris who work for our M.P.. I’m really interested in history and politics and all that malarkey and it was rather exciting to stand at the dispatch box where countless Prime Ministers have addressed the House. Later on we met Gloucester’s member, Parmjit and had a drink on the terrace of the Commons overlooking the Thames before watching half an hour of Jack Straw answering Foreign Office questions in the main chamber. It was certainly a day to remember.

The rest of the day was spent shopping. I ventured into the London Bridge and Chess Centre and bought some chess pens and postcards, a quaint and somewhat charming Russian chess puzzle book and a demonstration board that I’ve wanted for school for ages. We then strolled purposefully to Hamleys where T bought a magic set and helped…ahem…Mr Magic, Hamleys’ magic department fellow do a couple of tricks. There were lots of onlookers. Outside I spotted my only celebrity of the day if you discount Parliament: Ade Adepitan who plays wheelchair basketball for Great Britain wheeled past. I had to look up his name on the net but he was instantly recognisable.

It was somewhat eerie travelling on the London Underground after the awful events of the 7th but I’m glad we did it. I certainly felt a touch nervous when the doors slid shut for the first time of the day at Victoria but that feeling soon disappeared and it swiftly became second nature again.

A Pleasant Shock

I’m enjoying the process of unwinding and relaxing that comes from a period of holiday. On Saturday the Coles and the L family spent a smashing day at Bristol’s Ashton Court Festival. I confess that we didn’t get to see many bands but we certainly tapped into a fine vibe, ate well and exotically and, in the case of S3 and I, visited the beer tent regularly. The shopping experience was fun: one could buy anything, anything. I certainly would fancy 'doing' Ashton Court again next year.

One band that S3 and I did catch was Minotaur Shock (above) which is really another name for the young and affable Bristolian multi-instrumentalist David Edwards who was jauntily chucking energetic and angular gee-tar shapes over electronic samples and rhythms with another multi-instrumentalist, cheerful Emily Wakefield, adding soothing clarinet and flute textures to the whole mix. They made a joyful sound. They are on 4AD records. I’m playing the second album Maritime as I write this but Chiff-Chaffs and Willow Warblers, the debut, is also worth a close listen. I first mentioned Minotaur Shock on these pages back in April.

Longings

Hot and bothered.

I must confess that I long for the weekend. On Saturday the Coles are heading to the Ashton Court Festival in Bristol for the day, certainly a first for me. The Super Furry Animals - to a certain extent, a band who have regrettably passed me by - will be headlining but there should be plenty of other treats too. I note that both local drum and bass hero Roni Size (New Forms is a stunning album) and dub reggae stalwarts Zion Train will be in action at some point this weekend and I hope it is Saturday. There'll be plenty for the kids to do too. I simply look forward to chilling, preferably with the coolest of beers in my hand. There should be plenty of superb food on sale too. At midnight on Friday night I will collect the copy of the new Harry Potter book that I ordered from Ottakars last week. I plumped for the adult cover. I have my pride.

Terry Hall

I played the Terry Hall album this afternoon and it - no real surprise here - proved a delight, full of pop gems and intelligent lyrics. It was fun trying to guess who wrote what with Hall (see yesterday) and I still haven’t checked the cover to ascertain the information. Hall’s voice is a national treasure, as laconic, plaintive and mildly sarcastic on ‘Home’ and last year’s fabulous ‘The Hour of Two Lights’ as it was when he bleated out, ‘Ain't you heard of contraception?’ back in 1979.

This is the first time I have published a photograph on these pages. The new bass strap is seen in action. Paul Simonon eat your heart out.

Buy Buy Buy! Sell Sell Sell!

This was the first Saturday in a while that I’ve been able to fully relax and it’s been a pleasant day. I popped into Gloucester this morning for a few bits and pieces and dwelt on how old one feels when buying a bass guitar strap for one’s son. By chance I encountered S in town who was furtively attending to some financial transactions. We chatted amiably for five minutes outside The Body Shop.

This afternoon was spent profitably at the Sir Thomas Rich’s School car boot sale where I picked up four CDs, Maxinquaye by Tricky, Dummy by Portishead to continue the trip-hop theme, Home by Terry Hall and Debut by Bjork. Alas the Bjork CD case was empty of disc on our return home but I enjoyed the Tricky album this afternoon and look forward to further listens. I already have the wonderfully atmospheric Portishead album on tape but I really wanted it for my MP3 player and I always enjoy anything by Terry Hall. His album, which I haven’t yet played, contains songs co-written by Ian Broudie, Nick ‘Haircut 100’ Heyward, Andy ‘XTC’ Partridge and Craig ‘Briefly in The Smiths’ Gannon. I reckon it’ll be a fine listen.

I also bought a 1968 Roy of the Rovers annual to add to my collection and seven Charlie Buchan Soccer Gift Books from the sixties and seventies (including a few of these) for 50 pence each. This is somewhat out of character but I’m tempted to flog the blighters on eBay – something I’ve never done before – and make a few quid for the holidays. They are in incredibly good condition.

The Lions have been extremely disappointing in New Zealand and only a few players have emerged with any significant credit. For me, Joshua Lewsey has been the pick of the tourists’ backs and he has shown grit, skill, pace, power and intelligence in the tests. The best forward was Gethin Jenkins who held his own in the tight and rampaged manfully in the loose. Eventually I gave up hoping for any spark from our team and concentrated on appreciating the art served up by the All Blacks. They are a remarkable team and will surely prove worthy winners of the next World Cup. Unbelievably it will be 20 years since their last and only success.

David Essex

It is nice to return to these pages after a week or two’s break. My muses were needed elsewhere for a bit.

The South African Quinton Davids has signed for Gloucester. By all accounts this fellow is a bit of an underachiever and has perceived fitness – and possibly attitude – problems. Dean Ryan is building him up to be a key signing though and, as ever, I’ll give any new signing the benefit of the doubt. He is certainly a big chap and is being billed as the perfect foil for the more lightweight and effete Alexander Brown. We need a burly bruiser and I hope it works out. A South African colleague of D rates the guy. Fingers crossed, eh?

It seems that Alan Tait may be on the way to Kingsholm to replace surly David Ellis as the club’s defensive coach. I welcome this news. The new Scottish contingent on the management team shall certainly bring a professional outlook and a pleasing ambition to the Cherry and Whites. The Davids/Tait news has cheered me and I merely long for a new full back to complete the squad. My current opinion is that we must include Olly Morgan somewhere in the fifteen next season, possibly on the wing. I’d quite like a speedy, hard-as-nails guy to don the 15 shirt as well.

I got the new Saint Etienne album today, Tales From Turnpike House. It has received generally fine reviews apart from Q Magazine who panned it. The Guardian gave it five stars – a rare accolade – and on the first couple of listens I have grown to appreciate its wit and sunny textures. It is dubbed a ‘concept album’ because it features songs about a fictitious block of flats in London. I can cope with this. I detect a Free Design influence on the first track. David Essex is a guest vocalist on one song. I can cope with this too. I quite like the bloke. Rock On was a cracking number although I never fully appreciated the darker soundscapes of Winter’s Tale.

I popped into Gloucester’s best – well, actually I mean coolest – record shop, Pulp the other weekend to see of they had the Saint Etienne album. It hadn’t arrived in but the manager, a bit of a dude, was blasting out The Friends of Rachel Worth by the wonderful Go-Betweens. I know that S will hate me for this but I engaged the bloke in conversation about the acclaimed Antipodeans and probably sounded a bit of a pompous know-all to onlookers. However, I managed to drop into the chat that I had seen the band recently as well as proffering advice on Grant McLennan’s solo output. Frankly I feel I emerged from this encounter with great credit. I shall certainly stroll into the Pulp emporium next time with head held high.